One Tree Hill Season 3 the Laley Way
by oblivian reb
Summary: Starts at episode 306: Locked Hearts and Hand Grenades. What if the Boy Draft happened but with different rules and results? How would that change the lives of our favorite characters of Tree Hill High?
1. Locked Hearts and Hand Grenades

Episode 306: Locked Hearts and Hand Grenades

A/N: I don't own anything. This story starts in the Fantasy Boy Draft episode, but there are quite a few changes. I tried to stick to the episode as much as possible, but the tape that had the episode on it got erased, so I'm depending on my not so good memory. Sorry.

Summary: What if the Fantasy Boy Draft had gone down, but with some changes? This story explores the possibilities if the Boy Draft had been more than just a draft.

**Start of episode goes to when Haley and Nathan are walking down the hallway:**

"Nathan! Nathan, wait up!" Haley cried as she chased after him down the hallways of the school. Nathan didn't even glance back and merely sped up his pace. Haley followed suit, catching up to him.

"Nathan, please! You can't ignore me forever. At least look at me." Haley cried. Nathan suddenly stopped and turned around causing Haley to crash into him.

"What! What can you possibly say to me right now that you haven't already said? I've heard it all Haley and personally, I'm not in the mood to hear it again. I told you that I needed some time. Can't you understand that!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Nathan, I did give you time. I gave you the entire summer and then some. Talk to me. You must have something to say by now." Haley persisted.

"I'm sorry Haley, but I really have nothing to say. I'm sorry but I'd appreciate it if you left me alone. I have to go now. Bye." After saying that, Nathan left, leaving Haley in the dust.

"I'm really sorry." Haley whispered softly as a tear fell down her face.

**Next scene, in front of the school, by the buses:**

"So are you going to give me the damage report on you and Lucas?" Peyton asked.

"Well, let's see… one boy, one car, one naked skeez in the back seat, and one Brooke Davis totally flipping out."

"Ohhh Rachel stole your move huh?" Peyton said laughing.

"Not the point" she paused, "It just really set me off seeing them together."

"Even though you were the one that put them together." Peyton replied.

"Way to twist the knife. The point is that she can't just come in here and try to steal my squad and my boyfriend!"

"Boyfriend? Isn't that like a dirty word in the keeping it casual scenario?"

"Yes" Brooke admitted sadly. Peyton laughed.

"Okay, I know that I totally screwed this up but what am I supposed to say to him now?" Brooked asked as the two of them saw Lucas posting up a flyer.

"Well, see there's this new thing out, it's called an apology, you might want to try it." Peyton replied sarcastically, "and if you're having trouble, try using the word exclusive." Peyton walked off as Brooke steeled herself by taking a deep breath and then approaching Lucas.

"Hey there," Brooke stated softly, Luke merely looked at her, "okay look, I'm really sorry Luke. I know that I came down really hard on you the other night and I know that the whole date Rachel thing was my idea, but I do have feelings for you."

"Listen, I thought a lot about what you said the other night and about what kind of guy you want me to be. And I want to be that guy for you, but you have to let me be that guy."

"If I say okay, do you promise to lower the weapon?" Brooke asked looking at his hand. Lucas looked down at his hand and noticed the staple gun poised and ready in his hand.

"Oh," he replied, dropping his hand, "sorry."

"What you got there anyway?" Brooke asked as they walked towards the building.

"Oh, just some flyers for my fantasy league." Luke replied.

"Hmmm…" Brooke paused, "sounds kinky."

"Fantasy basketball" Lucas corrected.

"Eh, sounds lame. So how does it work anyway?" Brooke asked.

"Well, there's a draft where you pick from a list of NBA players and you build your own ideal fantasy team."

"Hmm… so you get to choose from a list of hot athletic guys. Definitely take that back, not lame." Lucas chuckled.

"Well you know that there are better things to fantasize about." Brooke stated as Lucas put up another flyer.

"Well I don't have a girlfriend, so what else is there?" Lucas asked.

"Oh-oh." Brooke replied as she walked into the building. Lucas followed behind her. The two walked into the building to see two cheerleaders engaging in a catfight.

"You liar! You knew that I was going to ask Fede out and you sniped him!" one girl shouted, pushing the other girl.

"Just because he was in your cart doesn't meant that I can't grab him before you get to the checkout line." The other girl shouted back.

"Yea, well check _this_ out." The first girl replied and the two began to fight. Brooke gasped.

"Now I can fantasize about _this._" Luke exclaimed.

"Bevin! Ashley!" Brooke exclaimed as the two girls continued fighting, "stop!"

"You can't really blame 'em. I mean, they watched their captain go all 'Kung Fu Hustle' at midnight madness and now, they all want to look like Brooke." Rachel stated. Brooke turned to glare at her.

"Of course that would mean a trip to GoodWill." Rachel added, glancing down at Brooke's clothing. Brooke scoffed. "Hey Luke," Rachel said before walking away. Luke merely raised his hands up and turned away. Just then, Whitey came in blowing a whistle, causing the two to pause in their fighting.

"Okay Paris and Nicole, that's enough. If I wanted to watch cheerleaders wrestle, I would turn on Pay-Per-View." Whitey exclaimed.

"It's okay coach, I can handle them."

"Is that a fact? After you little melee at midnight madness, Principal Turner and I came to a meeting of the mind. Another fight like this one and there will be no cheerleading this season." In anger, Brooke blew Whitey's whistle.

"Squad meeting, **_NOW_**!" Brooke exclaimed. All of the cheerleaders filed into the room Brooke was pointing at.

**In a classroom all of the cheerleaders sat in the seats while Brooke paced back and forth at the front of the room:**

"Now this is my senior year and as I am captain, I am not about to lose this squad just because we are all fighting over the same guys."

"Bevin knows that I like Fede!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Yea well Fede's not into whores!" Bevin retorted.

"Okay, enough!" Brooke ordered, pointing at them. Rachel stood in the back laughing.

"Do you have a problem?" Brooke asked. Rachel stopped laughing and looked innocent.

"Just waiting to see what your plan is captain."

"My plan." Brooke paused, "I'll tell you what my plan is…" the girls all watched her, waiting silently.

"We're waiting, aren't we girls?" Rachel asked snidely. Brooke glared at her.

"The plan is…" Brooke trailed off, looking around. She then saw Lucas' fantasy basketball league flyers and smiled, "a fantasy boy draft." Rachel rolled her eyes as the other girls stared at Brooke confused and wary.

**All the cheerleaders are gathered in a circle with Brooke standing in the middle, holding a purse full of compacts:**

"Okay, here are the rules of the boy draft," Brooke stated as the girls picked out compacts from the purse, "Once you pick a guy, he is yours for the season. That means that he's yours to date, break or whatever you want until February/ Marchish. So the next 6-7 months. No one else can touch him. He's yours. That means hands off for everyone else until she trades or she's done with the guy. Got it Bevin, Ashley?" The two girls nodded.

"Also, the guy you pick is the boy you are expected to bring to the various social events on our schedule during the season. In other words, said boy will be your date to dances, parties, fundraisers, charities, etc. as long as he is your pick. Even when cheering, you will represent said player whether it is by wearing their number on game days or cheering for them at the game. This is the guy you will be spending most of your social life with, so you better choose carefully girls, okay?" The entire squad nodded, solemnly listening to Brooke's rules.

"So, what are these for?" Haley asked, raising her compact.

"Glad you asked trial separation girl. Open them up. The number on your compact will determine where you are in the draft order. You cannot change numbers, the number you have is the number that you get."

"What's to stop us from just dating whoever we want even with this little draft thingy?" asked Bevin smiling.

"Good question Bevin. Of course you'd be kicked off the squad. Or worse…" Brooke stopped.

"Like how worse?" Bevin asked.

"Liiikee...What's to keep me from telling the whole school that one of you was left handcuffed in Thomas' bed for seven hours waiting for a locksmith?" One cheerleader looked worried.

"Or that at the Sparkle Classic last year, one of you had a little too much to drink and made out with another one of you?" Another girl glares at Brooke.

"Or that scar on a certain someone's back isn't really from falling off her bike but was one of those little baby spine tails that the doctors had to lop off after she was born." Bevin looked embarrassed while she self consciously rubbed the center of her back.

"In other words… honor. Code of silence. You all keep the rules of the code and I keep silent on all of the dirt that I have on all of you. Break the rules and it's social suicide. Final rule, if at anytime during the season you are not happy with your draft pick, you can trade someone else, however, you are not allowed to change draft numbers."

"Okay? Let's count out our numbers starting from one" Brooke stated.

"One," Peyton stated raising her compact.

"Way to go P-Sawyer with pick numero uno. Right behind you with number two. Who's got three?" Brooke asked.

"Three," stated Bevin. "Uh, four," continued Haley. "Five," said Rachel smiling in mock sweetness at Brooke. Brooke looked back making a fake sympathetic face.

"So, wait. Once we pick our guy, then what happens?" Peyton asked. Brooke smiled, "it's up to you."

**In the gymnasium, the boys basketball team is running suicides while the cheerleaders sat, watching, nearby. Lucas is visibly lagging behind the entire team:**

"Oh man, Lucas looks really tired." Haley stated.

"Well it's not like I've been keeping him up all night. Of course, that can all change after the boy draft." Brooke stated smiling. Haley smiled.

"Yea, I guess. Good luck with that… not that you need any." Haley said, smiling sadly.

"I guess things aren't going well in the Naley department." Brooke stated concernedly.

"Yea, he's still won't talk to me and it's been months since I got back."

"Well hang in there tutor girl. I'm sure that he'll come around."

"Yea, I will. I'm not planning on giving up anytime soon. Anyways, I gotta go. Keep an eye on him, huh?" Haley asked as she gathered up her stuff.

"I will," Brooke replied watching Lucas very closely. Then, when Haley left, she added, "maybe two."

Meanwhile, Mouth walked up the bleacher steps to where Peyton was sitting, sketching.

"Hey Mouth, how's it going?" Peyton asked.

"Pretty good, you?" Mouth answered. Peyton shrugged.

"I'm okay I guess." Peyton replied. Mouth nodded than sat down next to her.

"So I hear that you have number one pick in your little boy draft."

"Yea, how'd you know?" Peyton asked curiously.

"Well, it's only the talk of the whole school. Anyways, who are you going to be picking?" Mouth asked curiously. Peyton set aside her artwork and sighed.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I mean if things were different…" she trailed off.

"You'd be picking the famous Mr. Jagielski, right?"

"Yea, but things aren't different, are they?" Peyton said a little bitterly.

"No, they're not, but hey, you still have the pick of the entire male population in this school. That's got to mean something." Mouth said, trying to cheer her up.

"What do you mean?" Peyton asked confused.

"Well think about it. You have first pick. Didn't you know all the guys are dying to be first pick?" Mouth asked curiously. Peyton shook her head in confusion.

"Well, you'll see what I mean Peyton." Mouth replied, getting up. "I'll see you around."

"Okay, bye." Peyton said, still not clear about what he meant.

**The next day after school, Peyton is walking along when Brooke comes by:**

"Hey P-Sawyer." Brooke said coming up to walk beside her.

"Hey Brooke. How's it going?" Brooke asked.

"Well, I must say that it's going very well. After all, we have the top two picks of the draft." Brooke answered smiling widely. Peyton looked at her confusedly.

"Why does everyone keep saying that to me as if it means something really important?" Peyton asked. Brooke smiled wickedly.

"Let me show you." Brooke reached over and knocked down the books in Peyton's arms.

"Brooke!-" in an instant, all the boys standing nearby crowded around to pick up the books. Peyton was shocked to see that some were even fighting over who would be the one to hand the books back to her. Eventually, the chaos settled and Peyton got her books back.

"See what I mean?" Brooke asked, "We're cheerleaders, and therefore the hottest and most popular girls in the school. _We_ have the first two picks. Everyone wants to be the first pick of the draft." Brooke finished explaining, before she turned and left a bewildered Peyton behind.

**Sometime later, Haley finds Lucas by the River Court training:**

"Hey Luke," Haley called as she approached the blue eyed blond who was currently sweating profusely from his recent training session.

"Hey Hales. How's it going?" Luke asked as he bent over to catch his breath.

"I'm doing okay I guess." Haley stated somewhat bitterly. Luke looked at her.

"Uh-oh, am I sensing a little trouble in the Naley department?" Luke asked.

"It's just that I'm doing everything that I can and I can't seem to get him to open up to me the way he used to. He threw my guitar in that bonfire, then bought me a new one, but said that I shouldn't read into it because he was just compensating me for the damage he caused in a drunken stupor. I mean he hasn't signed the divorce papers either, but he's not encouraging me at all. It's like he's trying to keep me as far away as possible. You know?"

"Well Hales, you really did hurt him. I hope you know that. You didn't even come back here until after I went to see you. It probably doesn't look that good for you right now. Just give it some time. It'll be okay. You two love each other." Luke said, patting her back gently.

"Yea, I know. I just don't want to go through the wait. I wish we were together, now." Haley trailed off, "so anyways, how are you doing? Are you okay?" Luke nodded.

"Yea, I'm fine. I'm just training to get my body back in shape. This stupid medication is slowing me down." Luke stated in frustration.

"Luke, the whole point of the medication is to slow your body down so you don't over exert your heart so that you can live longer. You remember that don't you? You can't push yourself like this. It could get really bad for you and your heart." Haley scolded him.

"I'm fine. That's why I have this medicine, to keep my heart going. I need to train extra hard to make up for the loss that my body gets from the medicine. I can't let the guys down like I did today. Coach made us do extra laps because I lagged behind so much."

"Luke, have you even told Whitey about this yet?" Luke didn't answer, but Haley knew the answer.

"Luke! You have to tell Whitey! This is really important."

"If I tell Coach about this, then he won't let me play on the team anymore. I can't let that happen. Basketball is all I have. My whole life is basketball."

"I think that your life is more important than basketball, don't you? If you keep doing this, you could die. Don't you get it?" Haley asked as tears filled her eyes. Luke pulled her in for a hug.

"Shhh. Don't cry Haley. Don't worry about it. I'm fine and I will be fine."

"I can't lose you Luke. Not you too, not now." Haley sobbed out quietly. In her mind, she began to freak out. 'Oh god. Lucas had to start taking care of himself. She couldn't lose him. She wouldn't know what she would do without him. He was her best friend.'

"Don't worry about it. As long as I have this medicine, I'll be fine." Luke replied.

"Still, you said it yourself. That medicine is pretty expensive. How much longer is your supply going to last? You have to tell Whitey. Does Karen even know?" Luke shook his head.

"Luke!" Haley exclaimed hitting him on the chest, "how could you not tell Karen!"

"It's not a big deal. I'm fine aren't I? I don't want to worry her over nothing. You know she'll make a big deal out of nothing. She would never let me play basketball when I have HCM. Besides, I have this medication. It'll take care of me." Haley sighed and gave in reluctantly realizing that she wouldn't get anywhere with him today.

"Fine, but you still have to tell Whitey. You cannot keep doing this to yourself. You really can die. That won't be good for you at all, not to mention all of us here who care about you will be pissed." Luke opened his mouth to reply, but Haley interrupted him, "no buts. You either tell Whitey or I will tell him." Luke sighed heavily.

"All right. I'll tell him at practice tomorrow." Haley nodded.

"Good. Tell him tomorrow, or I will. Okay? I'll see you later." They hugged, each holding onto the other tightly as if it was their last hug.

"Well, well, well. What's going on here?" Lucas and Haley abruptly jumped apart to see Nathan watching them with anger on his face.

"Nathan… how's it going bro?" Lucas asked. Nathan held up a hand to cut him off.

"Don't say anything. Now answer me this: am I missing something? Did I just interrupt an intimate moment between my brother and my future ex-wife?" Nathan asked angrily.

"Uhh, the last time I checked, you were the one who wanted a divorce. What's it matter to you?" Haley stated bitterly. Nathan's face hardened and Haley immediately regretted saying it.

"That's right. Thanks for reminding me that I don't really need an explanation because it doesn't even matter to me. Not anymore anyways... Well in that case, I'm out of here." Nathan said and stomped away.

"Well that went well." Lucas said smiling wryly.

"Yea, so much for trying to patch things up." Haley said sadly. Lucas sighed.

"Hales," he pulled her into a hug that she quickly returned. "Just think about it this way. He was jealous. Granted, I'm a boy, so I could be wrong, but that has to mean something, doesn't it?" Haley laughed, shoving him in the chest while Lucas pretended to be hurt.

"That's true. He was acting like a jealous husband and that's definitely a good thing. I think that we've made progress. Thanks Luke." Haley said smiling.

"Anytime. My excellent services as handsome, charming, and all around perfect boy toy will always be open to you for free." Lucas replied cockily. Haley laughed.

"Besides, you and me together? That's ridiculous." Haley said. When she looked up at his face however, she almost regretted saying it until Lucas broke out into a grin.

"Yea seriously. We're siblings, not lovers. That'd be too weird and gross for me." Lucas replied. For some reason, Haley felt a slight pang from his statement.

"Yea, I concur. It'd be too awkward and weird." Lucas nodded and then the two stood there in an awkward silence, lost in their individual thoughts.

"Well anyways, I really do need to go. Still, you HAVE to tell Whitey tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes ma'm." Lucas saluted her. Haley laughed and after exchanging good-byes, she left, leaving Lucas to stare after her before he began training once more.

**The next day, Peyton is walking the halls before class when Nathan approaches:**

"Hey, how's Ms. Number one pick today?" asked Nathan. Peyton roller her eyes.

"Oh my God, how does everyone know about this?" Peyton asked.

"Peyton, you guys are cheerleaders and therefore gossips. How could it not get out?"

"True, I guess. But now I have to put up with all of these boys sucking up to me because they wan to be the first pick of the Draft." Peyton complained.

"Well, do you have any ideas on who you're going to pick?"

"If a certain Mr. Jagielski had been here, then yes I would know who I was picking, but he's not so I have absolutely no idea who to pick."

"Well you do have first pick, so there are plenty of options for you." Nathan smirked.

"Including you?" Peyton asked curiously. The smirk disappeared.

"What do you mean?" he asked, suddenly serious.

"Well, I have first pick, but I'm undecided. Then there's Brooke with second pick, but we all know that she's going to pick Luke. Next comes-"

"I sure hope so." Nathan muttered, not realizing that he had interrupted Peyton.

"What was that?" Peyton asked curious at his random comment.

"It's just that yesterday after classes, I went by the river court to relax and think about… well, you know, things and guess what I see at the river court but my two favorite people: Luke and Haley. Guess what they're doing, they're sharing a suspiciously intimate moment. Of course, as is always the case with us now, mean words were exchanged and I left." Nathan explained.

"Oh, I see." Peyton said. After a moment or two of silence, she burst out into laughter.

"Lucas and Haley? Are you serious Nathan? They're best friends, or course they're going to hug. They grew up together. Nothing would ever happen between them because she loves you and he loves Brooke. Even if they didn't, they're too much like siblings to ever feel that way for each other. Oh man, I think you just made my day." Peyton continued laughing.

"Yea, I know. It sounds really ridiculous now that I'm actually thinking clearly." Nathan said laughing sheepishly. "I mean Luke and Haley? That's just ridiculous. What was I thinking?" the two continued laughing for quite some time.

"So, what was it that you started saying before I interrupted you?" Nathan asked once the two of them had calmed down enough to breathe properly and stop laughing.

"Well, I was saying that I'm undecided, Brooke's picking Lucas, Bevin, from what I've been seeing and hearing lately, is bound to pick Skills. That leaves you wide open for Haley."

"Oh." Nathan replied with a blank expression on his face. Peyton sighed.

"Seriously Nathan, do you want me to pick you? I certainly can if you want me to. The question is, do you want me to pick you, or do you want Haley to pick you?" Peyton asked. Nathan stared at her for a few moments in deep thought before replying.

**Haley is with Chris putting up names of great musicians on the map:**

"Chris Keller… Wilmington, North Carolina." Haley stated as she put his name up. Chris came up next to her smiling. She watched as he put her name up on the map.

"Uh Chris, that wall is for great musicians." Chris nodded his head.

"I know." Chris replied matter of factly. Haley looked confused.

"I do not belong up here." Haley said adamantly. Chris sighed and rolled his eyes.

"If you'd stop running from your emotions and start writing about it, one day you might."

"Running away? How am I running away from my emotions? That's all I've been lately… emotional. I've even been working on a new song and practicing my music. How can I be running away?" Haley asked exasperated.

"Really, a new song?" Chris asked. Haley nodded, "well then, let's hear it."

"Here? Now?" Haley asked completely taken aback.

"Yes here. Where else? Come on, you said you're not running away, prove it."

"Fine. I'll show you." Haley huffed as she picked up a guitar and went to the mike. She sat on the stool and began playing a slow rift on the guitar. After a few measures, she opened her mouth and began to sing.

(A/N: I don't know the words of the song that she sang or whatever, so I'm skipping it)

"So," Haley asked when she finished, "what do you think?"

"It sucks Haley." Chris stated bluntly. Haley looked insulted.

"What? I worked really hard on that song! What do you mean it sucked?"

"I mean, it sucked so bad, I'm wondering it it's possible to unhear a song." Chris replied.

"Well, what was wrong with it, I thought that it was a great song."

"No, it was the song that sucked. Worst thing I've ever heard."

"Maybe it's the song that was good and it's you that sucks." Haley said angrily.

"Yea, maybe, let me think, um… no! It's definitely the song." Chris repeated.

"Well fine!" Haley exclaimed and angrily left the club as Chris looked on.

**Meanwhile, Lucas is in Whitey's office, waiting for him to get off the phone:**

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about Lucas?" Whitey asked. Lucas took a deep breath to calm himself as well as stall some time.

"Well Coach, um I'm sure that you've noticed my lagging in our past few practices and I just wanted to say that," he paused, "I just wanted to say that you shouldn't make the team pay for it. It's totally my fault for being out of shape so please don't punish them for my mistakes."

"Oh really? Well son, I can take care of that. Thanks for your input." Lucas sighed in relief. He may not have been able to tell Whitey the truth, but at least the team wouldn't pay for it anymore. They wouldn't give him dirty looks anymore.

"Thank you so much Coach." Luke said while thinking, 'Haley's going to kill me.' Together, Coach and player went out of the office and onto the court.

"Listen up ladies!" shouted Whitey after blowing the whistle, "thanks to your co-captain Lucas here, we're going to be doing something extra special today. I'm giving each and every one of you a gift of ten extra suicides and if anyone lags behind, I'll add five more for each time. Let's go team, line up!" The entire team groaned with a couple of them giving Luke dirty looks.

"Thanks a lot bro. You totally made my day!" Nathan stated sarcastically glaring at him as they lined up on the starting line. Luke sighed heavily and prepared himself for a long practice.

**A few days later, the cheerleaders were starting to gather in Haley and Brooke's apartment, as the hour for the boy draft draws nearer:**

"Ugh! That bitch! I can't stand her, trying to make all of those moves on Lucas. I have to get back at her!" Brooke complained to a bummed Haley.

"What do you mean?" Haley asked without any real interest. No matter how hard she tried, Nathan was still easily avoiding her. Even when she did manage to find him, he would not let her speak and only said harsh things to her.

"Well, she's just being all seductive like and she's always trying to show me up! I mean, looks at the cupcakes that she brought. Of course they have to be better than my food! UGH!"

"Brooke you shouldn't worry about it. I mean you know that Luke likes you. Besides, you're the one who told him to date other girls." Haley replied.

"True. I guess you do have a point. After all, if there's anyone who has to worry it should be you and not me. I mean because your interest is not exactly-"

"What are you talking about?" Haley interrupted. Brooke stopped and stared.

"Uh what I meant was that uh, well fine!" Brooke exclaimed sighing, "I don't know if this is true but I've been hearing things about Peyton maybe picking a certain someone-" Haley didn't even let Brooke finish. She quickly turned around and approached Peyton.

"What is this I hear about you and my husband-" Haley exclaimed.

"You must mean ex Haley because as far as I know, you guys are on your way to being divorced." Peyton stated bitingly. Hurt flashed across Haley's face for a second, but she quickly hid it from view.

"Need I remind you that he is also your ex?" Haley asked.

"So you agree with me on the whole divorce thing don't you?" Peyton asked smirking. Haley looked away, everyone knowing that Peyton was right. Everyone could also clearly see that Haley was nearing tears. Peyton softened a little at her friend's pain.

"Well to be honest Haley, we were talking and he seemed so down that I couldn't help but offer to pick him. I know that you're tired of waiting, but he really needs his space and time to heal so that he can come back to you and you guys can be Naley again. That's why I told him that I'd pick him." Peyton said softly. Haley sighed reluctantly.

"I know it's just so hard. I don't know if I can hang on much longer with him being so mean. I mean I understand that he's angry, but sometimes his words are so harsh." Haley paused, "but just because I understand, doesn't mean that I'm still going to forgive you that easily for picking him first." Haley said before standing up and walking away. Peyton sighed.

"Well, at least you don't know that I asked him if he wanted me to pick him so that you couldn't." Peyton stated to herself before she turned back to the little cheerleader gathering.

**In the meantime, the Ravens were in the gym, practicing:**

"Lucas Scott! Why don't you hop on your brother's back and let him carry you?" Whitey roared to a straggling Lucas, "that's ten more suicides for each of you until your co-captain here decides to shape up and get back to it!" The entire team groaned.

"Hey bro," Nathan stated as they lined up along the starting line, "this was kind of fun in the beginning, but now it's getting real old. Seriously, what's up with you? You've never been this slow in your entire life. Stop messing around. I don't think that the team can take much more of this. I'm serious. This has been over a week. That's too long a time of training to still be lagging behind. Pretty soon, you'll be the one holding us back." Lucas sighed.

"I'm working on it. Don't worry. I'm not going to bring the team down." Lucas stated determinedly. 'How am I supposed to explain this? I can't tell them that I have HCM. They'd probably kick me off the team and say that I'm too weak to play. I can't let that happen, basketball's my life.'

After a lengthy period of countless suicides an exhausted team finally came to a halt at the sound of Whitey's whistle.

"All right ladies, let's bring it in." Whitey shouted as the team took this moment to catch their breaths. Lucas hunched over, desperately trying to slow his breathing down.

"Now, I want you guys to run through some of our favorite drills. You boys know which ones I'm talking about. No mercy today boys. Not until your captains begin shaping up." Whitey declared. A majority of the team glared at Lucas, who looked down.

"Nathan! You run the drills. Lucas Scott! Come with me. I want to talk with you." Lucas sighed heavily before he followed Whitey into his office.

"Have a seat kid." Lucas complied with the request.

"What's up Coach?" Lucas asked nervously. Whitey sat in his chair.

"Well kid, I've been meaning to ask you that same question. What are you up to? Why are you so out of shape? Are you on drugs Lucas? Is that why you're lagging behind?" Lucas shook his head furiously. 'Well I guess that technically, I am on drugs.'

"No coach. I'm not on drugs. I swear nothing's wrong. I've just been out of shape because I didn't train after the season and during the summer. It's all my fault."

"Are you sure that's it?" Whitey asked. Lucas nodded.

"Yes." Lucas lied. 'I'm sorry Hales, I just can't do it. I can't stop playing basketball.'

"All right then. I better see you shaping up boy or pretty soon, there's only going to be one captain on this team. If that doesn't make you shape up well then, I guess that you and the bench will be best friends for the season. Now, I don't want to do that because you have a lot of talent and the scouts are coming in, so you better shape up. Got it?" Whitey snapped.

"Yes Coach." Lucas replied, nodding his head.

"Good, now get back out there and run some drills. I'm sure that your co-captain out there could use some help." Lucas nodded once more and left the office.

"Man, that kid…" Whitey trailed off, "I can't help but wonder if he's lying to me. He has to be holding something back and I will find out what."

**The cheerleaders are now all gathered at Brooke and Haley's apartment, ready for the Boy draft:**

"Haley, you have to do me this one huge favor." Brooked exclaimed coming up to her.

"What is it?" Haley asked, rolling her eyes. Whenever Brooke asked favors, it was never a good thing. Haley knew this from her own experiences.

"Well, I've been snooping around and I know who Rachel is going to pick."

"Really? And how did you get this information?" Haley asked curiously.

"Well, I did some snooping and you know I used the charm. Anyways, according to Bevin it's Chris Keller." Brooke paused, waiting for a response.

"Really?" Haley asked intrigued. She wondered why Rachel would pick him.

"Yup. Anyways, she has pick number five, which means she's right after you. So I was thinking since you don't have anyone to pick and all…" she paused as Haley's face fell.

"Well, I was wondering if I could pick Chris and then you could pick Lucas so that she can't have him but she also can't have Chris. This would be the perfect revenge. I could get back at her for trying to take over the squad and steal Lucas." Brooke exclaimed happily.

"Um… I don't know Brooke. We don't have to trade or anything, do we?" Haley trailed off. 'Things aren't going well with Nathan as it is; the last thing I need to worry about right now is another guy. Not to mention have him worry about me and Chris.'

"No! After what happened last year! I would never do that to you. Besides, with Nathan mad at you, you would probably be taking Lucas to things anyways." Haley remained silent, still contemplating the proposal. Brooke began to pout. Haley began to think. There was something desperate in the manner Brooke was asking her and Brooke was never desperate.

"Well is Rachel really the only reason that you're asking me to do this?" Haley asked.

"Of course!" Brooked replied in a fake, perky manner. Haley merely stared at her with a disbelieving look. After a moment Brooke gave in, shoulders slumping.

"Okay, so maybe I'm still a little scared right now. I mean after what happened last year, I don't know if I can trust him again." Brooke stated.

"Wow, this is almost like de-ja-vu." Haley stated ironically. Brooke laughed.

"Yea, I guess you're right. Nathan and I are in similar positions and you and Luke are both on the opposite side of us." Haley nodded her agreement.

"So anyways, I don't know if I can trust him yet which is why we had the loose relationship thing going on, but you saw what happened to that." Haley smiled at the memory of midnight madness. It had been quite an interesting night.

"My point is, I'm not ready to be with him in a real relationship yet, but at the same time I don't want anyone else to get him… especially Rachel. I can't let her win."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Haley stated, "Wait a minute. Lucas is not a prize to win. Remember that Brooke. Don't get too caught up in this thing between you and Rachel because you might actually wind up losing the most important thing."

"Yea I know." Brooke said nodding, but her gaze was locked on Rachel who was currently handing out second helpings of her cupcakes to the other cheerleaders. Haley sighed knowing that Brooke had not heard a thing Haley had just said.

"Still, I don't know Brooke. I mean this dating draft thing has a lot of rules and we're supposed to go to a lot of events together and stuff. I don't want people to get the wrong idea."

"Oh come on. The whole school knows that nothing will ever happen between you guys. I mean it's you and Luke for pete's sake. Besides, you can make Nathan jealous." Brooke stated.

Haley immediately had a flashback to a few days earlier when Nathan had gotten angry at her and Luke down by the river court. Pretty soon, an idea began to form in her mind. Lucas would kill her, but he'd eventually give in. After all, this plan would benefit them both.

"Ppppppllllleeeeeaaaaaasssssseeeeee." Brooked begged. Haley sighed.

"All right, fine. I'm only doing this for you." Haley stated trying to convince herself. 'I'm not doing this for me. I'm helping out a friend. If I can make Nathan jealous while I'm doing it, then hey, good for me. Besides, Brooke's right. It's just Lucas. Nothing would ever happen between us. We simply don't feel that way for each other.'

"Yay, thanks. Now we can start the draft. Thank you!" Brooke squealed, hugging Haley.

"All right girls, bring it in." Brooke called out over the noise as she dragged a board over to the couches where all of the cheerleaders were seated. On the board were the girls' names by draft order on the left side with a line next to each name. On the right side of the board was a longer list of the pool of boys open for the draft.

"Now, everyone remembers the rules, right? There's no going back after this point. You get who you pick. Understand?" the cheerleaders all nodded.

"Okay then girls, here we go!" Brooke exclaimed signaling to Peyton.

"I get Nathan!" Peyton shouted. Brooke nodded and wrote Nathan Scott next to Peyton's name and crossed out his name on the other side of the board.

"Okay, well then I get Chris Keller." Brooke declared, shooting Rachel a triumphant look. She became confused when the girl merely smiled sweetly and happily back.

"I get Skills." Bevin quickly jumped in. Brooke added that name next to Bevin and crossed out Skills from the list. "Ooohh, this is getting exciting. Tutor girl?"

"I want Lucas." Haley stated, then blushed, "no, I meant, you know what I meant." Brooke laughed and then wrote Lucas' name next to Haley's, crossing his out from the list. Brooke couldn't help but smirk when Rachel shot a glare at Haley.

"Okay then, I get… I get Mouth!" Rachel declared. The smirk quickly disappeared from Brooke's face as it appeared on Rachel's face.

"What!" Brooke exclaimed, but she could not be heard over the din of the rest of the cheerleaders picking their men.

** Scene fades out…end of the episode **


	2. Oh the Drama, Gotta Love High School

Episode 307: Oh the Drama… Gotta love High School

A/N: I don't own anything, if I did, Lucas and Haley would be together. This fic starts in episode 306 and continues from there. Each chapter is an episode.

**Start of the episode at Broo****ke and Haley's apartment where all of the cheerleaders have finished picking their guys…**

"What?!" Brooke exclaimed once more, this time shoving herself in front of Rachel.

"You heard me, I pick Mouth." Rachel stated simply. By now all of the other girls had finished picking and there was a tense silence as the other cheerleaders surrounded the two girls. Peyton stared in shock as Haley stood next to Brooke, equally stunned.

"You can't do that." Brooke stated furiously. Rachel merely scoffed at her.

"Uh, correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think I just did."

"You can't pick him. You're just using him to get to me, you btch!" Brooke shouted.

"Well Ms. Captain, isn't that why you chose Chris? To TRY and get to me?"

"Well y-you can't have him." Brooke stated. Rachel smirked.

"Now wait a minute, what was that? Weren't you the one who made the rules yourself? Any single boy was open to the draft and he was one of them. Now, because I picked him, he's mine for the entire season and there's nothing you can do about it."

"If you hurt him, I will kill you." Brooke said, knowing that she had no arguments left.

"Whoa there kitty, calm yourself. Besides, I wouldn't worry about that as much as I would worry about other things." Rachel stated giving Haley a quick glance. Brooke and Haley looked at each other, confused.

"What are you talking about?" Brooke asked. Rachel shrugged.

"If you don't know, then I'm not going to tell you." Rachel replied.

"You better be good to him." Brooke stated letting the other matter drop.

"Don't worry, I will. Now, I'm out of here. I can't stand this disgusting place any longer." Rachel said as she headed toward the door. Once she got there, she paused and turned around, "oh by the way, I would think about this. Why do you care so much? It's not Lucas, it's just Mouth." Then she turned and finally left.

"Okay everyone, draft's over and so is the party. Everyone get out please." Haley said in the politest way possible. Once they were gone, she turned to a still stunned Brooke.

**Meanwhile, after leaving Brooke in the capable hands of Haley, Peyton went off to find Nathan…**

"Hey" she stated as she approached him by the river court, shooting hoops.

"Hey." Nathan replied, shooting a three. As the ball went in and he retrieved it, he turned to her, "so, how was the draft?" Peyton sighed.

"Well, I chose you, as you know, and Brooke well Brooke picked Chris Keller. Then Bevin chose Skills, Haley picked Lucas-" Peyton started saying.

"Whoa whoa, wait a minute. Haley picked who?" Nathan asked suddenly attentive.

"Haley picked Lucas." Peyton answered. Seeing his angry expression she added, "but it was only because I picked you and Brooke begged her to." Nathan shook his head.

"No, she probably wanted to pick him and would have anyways. I can't believe this. How could she do this?" Nathan said now furious. Peyton rolled her eyes.

"Nathan, we went over this already. Haley doesn't feel that way about Lucas." 'At least I don't think so,' she thought to herself, 'but given what Rachel said, I'm starting to wonder.'

"I know, I know. I just can't help it." Nathan said sighing. He threw the ball at the hoop and to no one's surprise he missed.

"You know Nathan one would think that you and Haley are still together, the way you're acting. From my point of view, you sound like a really jealous boyfriend." Peyton said.

"Well, she is my ex-wife, of course I'm going to be jealous. I loved her, I still love her."

"So then, what's the problem? She loves you, you love her. Get back together already."

"Didn't you hear me? I said ex-wife. She betrayed me with Chris, then she left town with him, and then she didn't come back until LUKE went and got her. I'm not going to forgive her for what she did, never." Nathan stated angrily. Peyton sighed.

"You know Nathan, at the rate you're going, you and Haley might really end. You love her and you know you always will. However, with the way that you're acting, I have to warn you, she won't wait for you forever." Nathan shook his head.

"If she loves me, she will wait, just like I did. Besides, I just need some time to heal and get used to the fact that Lucas comes first before me." Peyton looked at him confused.

"She didn't come back until Luke went and visited her. She should have come back because she loved me and missed me without having Lucas come get her." Nathan explained.

"Nathan, aren't you being a little selfish here? Shouldn't you just be glad that she came back?" Peyton asked. Nathan nodded slowly, giving in.

"Yea, I guess you have a point." Peyton smiled giving him a hug.

"Great. Now think about it because I'm serious. She won't wait forever." 'especially not with Lucas as her draft pick' Peyton thought to herself. Like Rachel. She knew that there was potential for sparks to fly and eyes that were once closed to be opened.

**Now back to Brooke and Haley's apartment as they clean up after the draft…**

"Hey, are you okay?" Haley asked concerned. Brooke nodded.

"Yea, I think so. I mean everything worked out the way I planned. It's just that… why did it have to be Mouth of all people? I mean, I got Chris, you got Luke but she got Mouth. Mouth! I just don't get it." Brooke said shaking her head.

"Yea, I can understand, but Brooke, think about it like this. Aren't you taking this a little bit harder than you should? After all, it is just Mouth. He's your best friends, not your boyfriend."

"I don't know. I mean how would you feel if you were in my position and that stupid bitch chose Lucas? Wouldn't you be worried for him and stuff?" Haley nodded.

"Yea, you do have a point. If it were Lucas I would be mad, but at the same time, he is a big boy. They both are. They can make decisions for themselves, you know?"

"But still, why did it have to be Mouth?" Brooke asked.

"You know, I hate to say this, but maybe Rachel had a point. Why do you care so much about it? If the reason is what I think she implied quite a few times today, then I think that you're chasing the wrong guy." Haley said, her mind wandering back to some of the things Rachel had said.

"What are you talking about?" Brooke asked confused. Then realization dawned on her and she shook her head, "no, no, it's nothing like that. Mouth is my best friend. I can't believe that she'd stoop so low, you know? I really don't want him to get hurt."

"Uh, no offense Brooke, but isn't that kind of how low you stooped too? I mean you did pick Chris to get to her and then you did have me pick Lucas." Brooke shook her head.

"That's not the same because Chris is just a little crush thing. Mouth, Mouth is my best male friend. He means a lot more to me than Chris does to her. If she hurts him…" Brooke paused, "you know what, I have to go warn him. I'll be back." Brooke stated hurriedly, leaving a bewildered Haley behind.

"Well, that went well. I think she got my message." Haley said to herself. Her mind once more drifted back to Rachel's earlier statement.

_"Besides, I wouldn't worry about that as much as I would worry about other things." Rachel stated giving Haley a quick glance._

For the life of her, Haley could not understand what she was talking about. Was it her and Luke? No, of course not, why would Brooke have to worry about that? She shook her head.

"Well, now that the draft's done, I guess the only thing left to do is persuade Luke. Yea, like that'll be easy." Haley said sarcastically before heading off to bed.

**Meanwhile, Brooke was running through the streets and finally reached Mouth's house…**

"Mouth, Mouth!" she breathlessly shouted knocking on his window. The light came on in the room and a minute later a sleepy Mouth opened the door.

"Brooke? What are you doing here? It's kind of late." Mouth said tiredly.

"I- I came here to warn you. It's about the draft. The vote was today and-"

"Oh yes, your brilliant plan, your boy draft. How did it go? What's the verdict? Did everything work out just the way you planned?" Mouth asked.

"Um well, that is uh kind of." Brooke managed to say. Mouth quirked an eyebrow.

"Kind of? What does that mean? Did something go wrong, are you okay?" Brooke couldn't help smiling at his immediate concern. This was why Mouth was such a great friend. He always knew when something was wrong, she could never hide anything from him.

"Well you know that bitch Rachel, well I heard from Bevin that she was going to pick Chris Keller because she obviously wouldn't be able to pick Lucas. So, to make her angry, I had Haley pick Lucas for me while I picked Chris so she couldn't have him either."

"Wait, let me guess, your brilliant plan backfired, am I right?" Mouth stated.

"Well kind of. It's actually like a soap opera in a sense because of all the love triangles that have been formed now. I wonder how it's all going to turn out…"

"Okay, out with it. Who picked who? Just give me the top five, who are the lucky five bachelors or should I say the top five most wanted bachelors?" Mouth interrupted.

"Well Peyton chose Nathan, and of course Haley's not thrilled at all. Then I chose Chris, figuring Rachel would be pissed but that bitch just smiled right back at me all happy innocent and all. God I just wanted to strangle her!" Brooke growled in frustration. Mouth hid his amusement and watched the various expressions play across Brooke's face as she talked. She was so beautiful.

"Then Bevin came in and chose Skills of course, I mean the way she's been looking at him lately, we all know what's going to happen there. So then following the plan, Haley chose Lucas for me." Brooke went on. Mouth suddenly sprung to attention.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. This whole draft thing, the guy the girl chooses, he's basically hers for the season, right? And so that means that as long as a guy is a girl's pick, then he can't go out with any other girl and she can't go out with any other guy, right?"

"Basically yea." Brooke nodded.

"So how come we don't get a choice in any of this. I mean isn't that kind of unfair to the guys? We never exactly agreed to do this."

"True, but think about it Mouth. What guy is going to say no to having a cheerleader as a date? Hello! I chose my team well, there isn't a single unattractive nor untalented girl on that team. The cheerleading squad is the most coveted spot for girls in the entire school and every boy wants to date a cheerleader, duh!"

"Or maybe just sleep with them." Mouth put in smirking. Brooke smacked his arm.

"Ow! What was that for?! It was just a joke. Besides it is partly true."

"I guess." Brooke sighed. "You men are such dirty dogs." Mouth chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess we are. But not all of us are that bad." Mouth said sticking up for men.

**Peyton has left the river court and now sees a light in the Karen's cafe…**

"Lucas…" she trailed off, "what is he still doing here?" She knocked on the door.

"Luke what are you doing in here? Do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked as he came outside, locking the café door behind him.

"Hey Peyt, what are you doing up so late?" Lucas asked as they both started walking.

"Well as you know, the boy draft was today, the party just ended a while ago, I ran into Nate at the river court and so now I'm heading home." Peyton responded, sighing heavily.

"Hey, is everything okay? That sigh didn't sound so good." Peyton shook her head.

"No, not really. I mean what happened? It was supposed to be you and Brooke, me and Jake, and Nathan and Haley. It was all so perfect. Where did it all go wrong?"

"Well I wouldn't exactly say it all went wrong. I mean Brooke and I are still together… kind of" he corrected at a look from Peyton, "you and Jake, well Jake's going to come back for you, you know that. And Nathan and Haley are Nathan and Haley. They'll find their way back."

"I don't know, how can you be so sure? I mean with this draft pick, you never know."

Speaking of this draft pick, mind filling me in? Who picked who? No wait, just give me the top five." Lucas said.

"Don't you want to know who picked you?" Lucas shook his head.

"Are you kidding me? It's me we're talking about here, I know I'm in the top five. Besides, Brooke had to have picked me. Right?" he asked at the look on her face.

"Actually… well the thing is… the thing is, I had first pick, you know? And well I was talking to Nathan about this whole draft thing and then we got to talking about the whole Haley thing and so I asked him if he wanted me to pick him. He said yes."

"Wow… I bet Haley didn't take that so well." Lucas said. Peyton nodded.

"Not at all. She's not too happy with me right now. Anyways, well since Haley had no one to pick, and Brooke, well you know how she is. She heard from someone that Rachel was going to go for Chris Keller. So then Brooke came up with this plan to get back at Rachel and so she picked so Rachel couldn't and asked Haley to pick you because she knew that you would be safe with her."

"Wait, wait. Brooke had Haley pick me because she knew that I'd be safe with her? What does that mean? Safe from what exactly?" Lucas asked not liking what Peyton was saying.

"Well you know. You and Haley are best friends, you guys have always been best friends. If Haley had you for her pick, Brooke wouldn't need to worry about you falling for the girl who picked you and she can focus on… well you know, getting back at Rachel."

"Oh. I see how it is. She's more focused on Rachel than she is on fixing things with me. Wow, and I thought that after our conversation when this whole thing started meant that we were starting to work things through. I guess not. She can't just use me like that you know. She can't honestly expect me to sit around the sidelines the entire season while she goes around with that Chris Keller guy. I'm not some object to be claimed. I really don't like where this is going."

"I know but it gets worse. Rachel, being the clever girl that she is, she picked Mouth."

"Wow. And suddenly things are even more complicated than they were. You were right Peyton. When did things go so wrong?"

**Back to Brooke and Mouth outside his home…**

"So anyways, as I was saying. Aren't you the slightest bit worried? I mean if Lucas is Haley's draft pick then they're going to be spending a lot more time together than they already do. They'll be going out on dates too, you know? Aren't you worried something might happen?"

"No, of course not! It's Lucas and Haley. Haley is way too wrapped up in Nathan and Lucas is way into me. Duh! Besides they're as platonic as platonic can be."

"Yeah I guess that's true. But you know what they say the best friends make the best lovers… Haley and Lucas are best friends, closer than anyone else, sparks can fly."

"Whatever Mouth. Don't say that please." Brooke said, uncertainty crossing her face.

"Yea, what am I saying? It's Haley and Luke. They've always been friends. Yea, you shouldn't worry." Mouth lied. 'I don't know why Brooke doesn't see it. It'll be so easy for Luke and Haley to fall in love. They know each other so well and right now, they're in the perfect place in their lives for it to happen.'

"Exactly. So anyways, back to what I was saying… after Haley picked Lucas, and Rachel… well Rachel… she uh, she picked…" Brooke forced out.

"Come on Brooke just tell me. Who did she pick?" Mouth begged.

"She picked, well she picked you," Brooke said quietly.

"What? She picked me? Are you serious? She picked me?!" Brooke nodded.

"Woohoo! Yes! Ladies and gentlemen, Mouth is in the top five! Yeehaw! This is great! I can't believe this! Yes! Yes! YES!" Mouth whooped jumping and hollering around.

"No Mouth, it's not great." Brooke shouted, finally getting him to stop.

"What? What are you talking about? You don't think I can be in the top five?"

"No, no that's not what I meant. It's great that you were in the top five, but it's not great because the person who picked you is Rachel." Mouth looked at her confused.

"Rachel picked me, what's so bad about that? She's hot! Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"Mouth, that's not what's important. Yea Rachel's good looking but she's also an evil bitch. Hello! She's going to use you!"

"Brooke, you don't know that. You barely know her, how can you say that?"

"Yes I do. She's a bitch and a slut! She's just after Lucas and trying to get to me because I have him and she doesn't." Brooke exclaimed, frustrated that he didn't understand.

"Lucas isn't an object you know. He is a human being."

"I know that. That's not what I meant! What I'm trying to say is that she's using you. She's going to use you to get to me. You're my best friend. The only reason she chose you was to get to me." Brooke immediately regretted the words that came out of her mouth.

"Mouth, no I didn't mean it like that. That's not what I meant to say."

"Yea, but you did. Thanks a lot Brooke."

"No Mouth, Mouth please." Brooke pleaded as he turned to go into the house.

"Look Brooke. I know that I'm not the most popular kid around, but that doesn't mean that girls don't like me at all. I can be attractive to some girls. She could be genuinely interested in me you know."

"I know that Mouth. Don't be mad. I didn't mean it like that. I'm just really worried about you. I don't want you to get hurt and I don't want you to go out with her. There's a rule in the draft that the guy, if he rejects the girl, then the girl must leave him alone and find someone else. You can do that. Mouth please."

"No. You only want me to do that to get at her. You are so focused on Rachel and this rivalry thing that you have going on. You better be careful Brooke of this thing can backfire even more than you wan it to. I can't believe you. This is ridiculous." Mouth said angrily, turning away.

"Mouth, that's not completely true. Yes that would be a plus if you rejected her, but the main reason I want you to say no is for you. I don't want you to get hurt. She can easily manipulate you Mouth. Please be careful." Brooke pleaded with him, grabbing his arm.

"Okay, okay. I will be careful. But you have to trust me to make my own decisions about people. You can't just expect me to reject her just because you told me that she's a bitch when you don't like her because she's into Luke. I'll be her pick for the draft, I'll get to know her, and then I'll see for myself whether or not she really is a bitch." Brooke sighed.

"Okay, that works. Just promise me you'll be careful." Mouth nodded.

"I promise." Brooke smiled. "Great. I'll see you tomorrow." She hugged him.

"Good night Brooke." Mouth said and as she left, he sat down heavily on the bench of his porch, burying his face in his hands.

**The following morning, Haley walks into Lucas' room wanting to talk…**

"Hey Luke… whoa! Hey there hottie!" Haley teased as she walked in on a very wet and towel clad Luke. Lucas blushed a bright pink.

"Shut up Hales." Lucas said turning away and going into his closet.

"Hey, where are you going? I was enjoying the view." Haley pouted. Lucas chuckled.

"Sorry Hales. I'm not a free show for the general public. Only special people get a free show." Haley genuinely laughed, throwing her head back and Lucas took the time to notice how pretty and musical her laugh was. She hadn't laughed like that in some time.

"Yea whatever. Anyways, I came to talk to you about the draft." The smile dropped from his face and he came out of the closet.

"Oh yea, the draft. I guess that means that I'm your man Miss James."

"Haha, you can put away the fake smile Luke. I know that you're not too happy about this but let me explain it a little more." Haley said pulling him down to sit next to her on his bed.

"Well what's there to explain? I know that Brooke picked that stupid Chris Keller guy to get at Rachel and Rachel picked Mouth to get to Brooke. And Peyton picked Nate because he asked her to and you picked me to keep me safe from other girls so I'll be there for Brooke when she's done with this whole rivalry thing with Rachel." Luke said bitterly.

"Well, that's basically true, but there's more to it. Don't you see it? Don't be mad at Brooke. She still loves you and wants to be with you. She'll get over this silly cat fight with Rachel and come back to you. All you have to do is wait." Haley said, rubbing his arm gently.

"Yea, but lately she's been so back and forth with me. First wanting us to be in an open relationship, then pushing me to go out with other girls and then having a fit when I do go out with one. Then she says that she's willing to accept me and now she pulls this: she pushes me off to the side so that she can go and have this rivalry with Rachel. I just don't get it. Why are girls so complicated? What am I supposed to do?" Luke asked, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Well for starters, remember what started this all… when you broke her trust in you. That's what started it first. She just doesn't want to get hurt, that's all. She's willing to trust you again, it's just going to take some time. Just give her the time and you guys will be back to where you want to be. Together, like you should be. Don't worry about it, this whole cat fight thing will be over in a bit." Haley said placing a placating hand on his shoulder.

"Yea and I could say the same for you and my brother Hales." Lucas said turning to her.

"Oh Luke, me and Nate are much more complicated than that. Nate and I, we have a marriage… had a marriage. We made sacred vows and I basically broke them. That sort of thing is a lot harder to get past and overcome, you know what I mean? For you it was just a kiss. For me it was that and more." Haley said despairingly as tears pooled in her eyes.

"Hey, hey. None of that now. It's going to be okay. Everything will turn out the way it's supposed to Hales, I swear it." Lucas said, bringing her onto his lap and into his arms. He gave her a kiss on the forehead as she buried her face in his neck.

"Yea, you're right. Everything will turn out the way it's supposed to." Haley said, wiping her tears away and looking up at him, "now, about this draft…"

"Oh no… not that tone. You sound like Brooke when she has one of her plans."

"Aw come on Luke! I have a great idea. Since I picked you for the draft, you're stuck with me now so why don't we use it to our advantage?"

"What are you saying Hales? Do you mean, get them jealous?" when Haley nodded her head, Lucas began to laugh.

"I mean, are you serious? Haley you know that's not going to work. No one would believe that we would actually fall for each other. We're too good of friends."

"Nathan did, didn't he? He thought we were together."

"Yea but he only said it because he was angry and wanted to lash out at us. It was an excuse for him to hurt you."

"But it still worked didn't it? It showed that he still loves me. Maybe if we get them jealous enough, maybe they'll come to their senses. You know, Brooke will drop this whole cat fight and Nathan will be ready to trust me again." Lucas looked at her skeptically.

"Come on Luke, please! Pleeeeeaaaasssseee!" Haley begged, giving him puppy eyes.

"Aw Hales, not the eyes. You know I could never say no to you anyways."

"YES! Luke you're the best!" Haley threw her arms around him while still in his lap, causing the two of them to fall back on his bed. They shared an awkward moment of silence with Haley sprawled on top of him and Lucas flat on his back.

"So anyways," Lucas said sitting up and clearing his throat as Haley got off of him.

"The guys, that is, we all decided that we're going to take each of our girls out to dinner before we go to the party. Does that sound good for you? Wanna go out on a date Hales?" Lucas teased, trying to break the awkwardness.

"Why Luke, I thought you'd never ask." Haley responded, playing along.

"Well then, I'll pick you up at seven."

"Seven it is. See you tonight Luke." Haley said. She then stood up and turned to leave but then turned back to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. Then she was out the door.

"What the hell was that?" Lucas asked before falling back on his bed with a groan.

"I don't know, you tell me big brother."

**A little bit later, a bunch of guys are gathered at the river court, playing ball…**

"Yo, yo, yo, Luke! Give it here man!" Skills shouted from the left of Lucas. Lucas threw the ball at him. Skills caught the ball and dribbled in for the lay up, completely untouched.

"Hey, hey! Who's covering him? Stay with your man!" Nathan shouted as he took the ball back in to half court. Nathan dribbled the ball looking for open players. Lucas came in at him, trying to steal the ball. Nathan shoved him, still a little angry at him about Haley.

"Hey come on Nate. You can't still be mad. There's nothing going on between us and you know it!" Lucas stated angrily, still guarding him. Nathan elbowed him in the ribs, hard.

"Shut up Luke! I saw you two just before she left. I saw that kiss!"

"It was a kiss on the cheek! We're best friends, she always does that and I always kiss her forehead. It's what we do." Lucas shouted frustrated.

"I'm not stupid Luke! I know the difference between a friend kiss and a more than friends kiss. It's not that hard to tell which kind of kiss that was."

"Are you kidding me?! She kissed me on the cheek! Get over it! We're best friends. Nothing more and nothing less. That's the way it has always been!"

"Why did she have to pick you for the draft? Why did it have to be you?" Nathan asked.

"Hey, you were the one who asked Peyton to pick you in the first place. How do I, how does she know there isn't anything going on there?" Lucas snapped back.

"What the hell are you talking about? Peyton and I are just friends now. We ended a long time ago. There's nothing there and she has Jake."

"Exactly. Peyton picked you and there's nothing going on between you and Peyton. Haley picked me for Brooke, and there's nothing going on between us."

"For now…" Nathan muttered under his breath.

"Hey! You were the one who said you needed space. You're the one who is for the divorce. Why are you getting so angry then when she picks me for the draft? Isn't this what you wanted? Weren't you the one who asked for this?!" Lucas shouted. Nathan threw a punch at him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa guys. Let's stop this okay? Why are we letting this get to us. Now now, let's just settle down, okay?" Nathan and Luke both nodded.

"Now, first of all, Nathan, you did ask Peyton to pick you. Second, you told Haley that you needed time away from her. Third, Haley picked Luke. Fourth, Luke is into Brooke. And finally, Brooke is into to Luke. So why are you so worried? Just be happy that she picked Lucas and not some other guy like Chris Keller for example." Skills said.

"Yea, you're the lucky one. At least Haley's with a guy that she doesn't have feelings for. Brooke is with a guy that is known to cause problems in relationships." Tim put in, sounding smart for once.

"Exactly. Now, can we have some peace boys, or should I say Nathan?" Skills asked.

"Yea, I guess. Sorry I hit you bro." Nathan said reluctantly. Luke shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I understand that you're hurting and you're frustrated."

"Great, now why don't we finish the game and then go home and take each of our lovely ladies out to dinner tonight? There's plenty of time to eat before the party." Tim suggested.

"Haha, that's a good idea Tim. It's too bad that your date will be a date for one!" another guy on the team shouted. Everyone laughed.

"What? What are you talking about?" Tim asked confused.

"Hello, we're saying that you didn't get picked. You weren't drafted."

"What?! How could the great Tim not be picked?" Tim protested.

"Who knows. I mean, even Mouth got picked and no one wanted you. Uh, no offense Mouth." The guy added after receiving glares from Luke and Skills.

"None taken man. I got in the top five! I know I'm hot!" Mouth stated.

"Man, what the heck is this. How come I didn't get picked? I wanted a cheerleader." Tim whined while the other hooted in laughter.

**Next scene follows Rachel and Mouth out on their dinner together…**

"You know, I'm kind of surprised, but you're not that bad." Mouth said as they finished their desserts. Rachel laughed.

"Well you're not so bad yourself Mr. Mouth." Mouth flinched.

"I don't think you should call me that. Sounds really awkward and really bad."

"Well why not? I'm kind of partial to it, after all the connotations of it… I'm sure Brooke will just loooove that. Rachel chuckled.

"Yea, I'm sure she would be thrilled." Mouth stated sarcastically.

"Oh come on. Is Brooke your boss? You don't have to do everything with her permission. She has her own life and you have yours."

"Well you do know that the only reason she picked Chris Keller was because she heard that he was the one you were going to pick." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Of course she did. She played right into my hands. I made sure Bevin knew that I was going to pick Chris Keller and of course Brooke got word of this and I knew that she just had to spite me, so she would pick him so that I couldn't."

"So you're just using me as a tool aren't you?"

"Well I didn't have much of a choice. If it had all worked out the way that I had planned, then Lucas would have been my pick, but that bitch… agh!" Mouth raised his eyebrows.

"Bitch? Care to enlighten me?" Mouth asked.

"The divorcee… what's her name… Haley. She just had to pick Lucas before I could… granted her hubby was chosen by emo girl." Mouth chuckled.

"Emo girl? Well who else did you expect Haley to pick? Nathan was taken and Lucas is her best friend so of course she was going to pick him."

"Yeah but it messed up my plan. Then you came along and now its even more perfect. You should have seen her. She went nuts after I picked you. It was highly amusing."

"Thanks now that I feel substantially used I'm totally still hungry." Mouth exclaimed sarcastically. Rachel felt a moment of guilt and reached across the table, putting her hand over his.

"Hey, I'm not just using you. Honestly, you were the next best choice after all those guys were taken. And you're definitely better than Chris Keller. Granted I didn't get Lucas, but I'd still say that I lucked out." Mouth blushed.

"Really?" he asked grinning shyly. Rachel smiled back.

"Really."

**Next at the party, seemingly the entire school is at the party including the cheerleaders and their draft picks…**

"Luke! Luke! Can I talk to you for a minute?" Brooke shouted over the music. Luke shot her a glance and shrugged his shoulders, uncaring.

"Sure, what do you want?" Brooke flinched slightly at his curtness.

"Well I just wanted to talk to you about the draft, you know explain things to you a little." Lucas scoffed.

"Oh there's no need to explain things Brooke. Haley already explained them to me. I know your elaborate plan and I'm sure that you can trust Haley to take real good care of me. Don't worry, she'll keep all the other girls away from me so you can have you little spat with Rachel and not worry about little old me."

"Luke I'm sorry-" Lucas put a hand up, interrupting her.

"No Brooke you listen to me. Like I said earlier this week, I want to be that guy for you. I really do, but you're going to have to let me… and I thought that you were going to and now you pull this? How am I supposed to be that guy for you when you push me off onto Haley as if I were some toy? So here's the deal: Haley will take good care of me until this little fight between you and Rachel is over." Lucas exclaimed before storming away angrily.

Brooke sighed heavily, holding back tears. She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" Haley asked gently. Brooke nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. I mean what happened? This wasn't supposed to be the way things happened. It was so perfect… and now I don't know what to do and I have to go out with that horrible, horrible jerk Chris Keller…" she trailed off, "I just don't know what to do anymore."

"You and me both tigger. But I promise that everything will work out. You and Luke will be back together and things will be normal again in no time."

"I hope so because I really need something to look forward to right now." Brooke responded before heading towards the keg and taking a cup. Haley smiled sadly and went off in search of Luke.

**Still at the party, but outside on the back porch Lucas is sitting on the swing and Haley comes over and sits next to him.**

"Hey, you okay?" Haley asked. Luke nodded sadly.

"Yeah, I think so. Just wondering where things went so wrong." Haley nodded.

"I know what you mean. I never thought that things would turn out this way. I mean here you are this big basketball star, me a cheerleader and our love lives in complete shambles." Lucas chuckled bitterly.

"Yeah, who would have thought that we would turn out like this? I mean after the whole Peyton thing I was like Brooke is the girl for me. I love Brooke. I honestly think that she could be the one, you know?"

"Well does she know this?" Luke didn't respond, "exactly. Why don't you tell her this. I know that she's scared Luke, she's scared of getting her heart broken so you have to show her that you're not going anywhere."

"Yeah, but she's not letting me. All she's doing is pushing me away. How am I supposed to anything when all she does is push me away?"

"Talk to her Luke. Tell her how you feel. That's all there is to it."

"I could say the same for you. You should talk to Nate."

"I would, if he'd let me. But that doesn't matter right now. Why don't we go back inside and find Brooke so that you guys can talk?" Luke nodded as Haley got up. She turned to talk away when she felt arms encircle her waist.

"Thanks Hales. I don't know what I would ever do without you." Haley smiled, turning around in his arms.

"Same here Luke, same here." The two broke apart and headed back inside.

**Meanwhile, from the second floor, Nathan stares hatefully at the happy couple.**

"Not a couple my ass." He muttered to himself bitterly. He didn't know why he was so jealous. It was just Haley and Lucas. They had been best friends all their lives.

"You know that there's nothing going on between them. They're best friends, they've always been best friends and they always will be." Nathan turned to see Peyton standing in the doorway.

"Yeah, that's what worries me the most. How are you supposed to compete with that?"

"You're not." Nathan dropped his shoulders in defeat, "you're not supposed to compete with him Nathan. Your relationship with Haley is completely separate from hers with Luke. Besides, she LOVES you. YOU. Not Lucas, not Chris, not anyone else, just you."

"Sometimes, I just don't know. I mean she left. She left last year to pursue her music and where did that get her? She comes back and what does she have to show for herself? A failing marriage and a questionable career."

"Nathan, you have to get past that. Yes she left, but she came back. When are you going to get over the past? You can't move on if you can't get over what happened. Now come on, there's a party going on downstairs. Let's go join it." Peyton grabbed his hand and he reluctantly followed her out of the room.

They got to the stairs and slowly walked down when Peyton was nearly knocked over by a drunk guy. Nathan caught her before she fell and they both glared angrily at the drunk. He merely mumbled an apology and fumbled along muttering something about a bathroom. He finally found a door and opened it only to find that it was not a bathroom.

"Whoa, sorry dude. Looks like you guys are having fun." The drunk said before stumbling away. Peyton and Nathan peered in the doorway only to freeze up in shock at what they saw.

There, in the center of the open doorway was a bed. And in the center of the bed, under the blankets was a more than likely naked Brooke making out heavily with an equally undressed Chris Keller. Peyton and Nathan were too shocked to say anything. A moment passed before either one could come up with something to say.

"Brooke?" came a voice from behind them, interrupting the two. The pair turned around only to see Brooke's eyes widen with horror.

"Lucas!"

** Scene fades out…end of the episode **


	3. It Was a Mistake, Honest

Episode 308: It Was a Mistake… Honest

A/N: I don't own anything, if I did, Lucas and Haley would be together. Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys like this chapter. If you guys have any ideas on the rest of the story, let me know.

"Luke! Luke wait! Please!" called out an extremely disheveled Brooke as she chased after Lucas. Lucas merely ignored her and kept walking, fists clenched at his sides.

"Lucas please. Let me explain. It was an acc-" He swung around, causing her to stop.

"DON'T finish that sentence. Don't. I just need a little time to cool off. I need to be angry for a while, so I suggest that you give me some time." Lucas responded before walking away. Once he got out the door, he broke into a run and disappeared from sight. Brooke fell against the nearest wall and slid to the ground, her face in her hands.

"Hey! There's nothing to see here. Give the girl some privacy!" barked Nathan and the crowd dispersed leaving Haley, Peyton, and Nathan surrounding a tearful Brooke.

"Brooke… what happened?" asked Haley, as she knelt down on the ground.

"I-I-I made a m-mistake." The girl sobbed out.

"Well clearly." Nathan remarked. Haley and Peyton gave him a look.

"I know that sweetie, but how exactly did you wind up… like that?" Nathan snorted.

"What she really means is how stupid are you to sleep with Chris Keller." Haley and Peyton both gave him heated glares.

"Nathan, shut up!" snapped Peyton.

"Fine." Nathan responded angrily.

"Brooke…" Haley trailed off at a loss for words.

"I know Haley, I know. I was stupid."

"Well I'm not going to deny that, but how did you go from hating him to sleeping with him?" Peyton asked.

"I don't know… it just happened!" there was a pause, "Haley, don't look at me like that. You know how charming he can be."

"Yeah she does." Nathan muttered. All three girls glared at him.

"It was a mistake, at least you know that. I'm sure he'll understand and forgive you eventually. Just give him some time." Haley said giving Nathan a pointed look.

"Oh are you kidding me?! This is ridiculous! How could you be so stupid?! I mean Chris Keller of all people… of all the dicks in this school, the one that you choose to screw around with just has to be him… how great is that?! Don't you know that Chris Keller ruins people's lives? Look at what he did to mine! Way to cause even more drama in my life… God he's such a jackass. How can he just disregard people's feelings like that?" Brooke sobbed before she abruptly got up and ran away. "Hey where are you going?! I'm not done you know!"

SLAP! Haley's hand flew out and struck Nathan in the face.

"That's all you can think about? In a situation like this, your biggest concern isn't Brooke, it isn't even Luke's hurt feelings, oh no… you're worried about how this is going to ruin YOUR life?! How selfish are you?!" Nathan scoffed.

"You want to talk about selfish? Fine! What's that phrase… the pot calling the kettle or whatever. Who was the one who abandoned our marriage for HER career?!" Nathan roared back.

"God Nathan! How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?! How many times do I have to apologize before you'll finally forgive me?!" Nathan looked away and Haley seemed to realize something.

"You never are going to forgive me, are you?" he didn't respond and Haley began to smile bitterly, "somehow I knew. You're going to end our relationship over this? I can't believe you… you're too stubborn to forgive me and your pride won't let you, but let me tell you something Nathan. I'm not going to wait around forever." Haley turned to Peyton.

"I don't think I'm really being helpful here, so I'm going to go check on Lucas." Peyton nodded and Haley leant down to give Brooke a hug.

"Oh sure, go look for your precious Luke. I'm sure he's completely heartbroken right now. I'm sure you're just super excited to go mend his poor broken heart, aren't you Haley?" Haley didn't respond and just looked at him. After a while Nathan turned away uncomfortably and Haley left.

"What happened to you? I don't even recognize you anymore." Peyton said giving him a disappointed look." Once more Nathan turned away.

"I don't know."

Meanwhile, Mouth and Rachel are walking into what looks to be a home for the elderly…

"So why are we here?" Rachel asked again as she glanced warily at the building.

"Hey come on, I know that despite what you say you really do have a soft side." Rachel laughed.

"Okay, I won't deny that, but why are you bringing me here?"

"I just want you to meet someone. He's a friend of mine and I come visit him at least once a week." Mouth said as they entered the building and went through the hallway, greeting the people at the desk. Rachel followed him into a room where an elderly man was sitting watching TV.

"Knock, knock." Mouth said as he entered the room. The old man turned to look at him and his face grew into a smile.

"Joe! It's good to see you again." Rachel glanced at Mouth, "Joe?" Mouth just shook his head and whispered, "I'll explain later." Rachel nodded.

"Hey there Mel! How are you doing today?"

"Just great Joe, just great. Now who's your friend?" Mel asked.

"Oh this is a friend of mine, Rachel, this is Mel. Mel, this is Rachel." Rachel smiled awkwardly.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you Mel." She said as she looked around the room. It was a plain room with a few pieces of furniture and even fewer pictures. The walls were practically bare with only one or two pictures and nothing else. It was a rather depressing room and Rachel felt a stab of sympathy for the elderly man.

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm glad that Joe's finally got himself a girlfriend. I hope that he takes good care of you. Are you listening to me boy? You shouldn't let such a pretty young lady get away from you." Mouth laughed and Rachel couldn't help but smile. The old guy was just too endearing to not like.

"Why thank you Mel." Mel just smiled.

"No problem. I'm just telling the truth." Rachel chuckled.

"Well aren't you just the charmer." Mel grinned even wider.

"Of course I am. How else would I get all the ladies?" The trio laughed and they went on talking about various things and gradually Rachel felt more and more comfortable around the elderly man.

It was rather depressing sitting around in this room and pretty soon, Rachel felt anxious to get out. It was kind of stuffy in there and she could only imagine how Mel felt living there.

"Hey Joe," she called out. Mouth turned to look at her, "let's take him out of here."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Mouth exclaimed.

"Oh come on. It will be fun. This room is way too depressing. He needs to get out of here for a while. It will be good for him and some fresh air would be nice. Please?" she begged.

"Yeah, but how do we get him out of here?" Rachel smiled.

"Oh I'm sure that we can figure something out.

The next scene flashed to Lucas lying in bed, brooding as always…

"Hey…" Lucas looked up to see his mother standing in his doorway. He merely nodded at her as she came in and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Is something wrong? You look like you have a lot on your mind." Lucas shook his head.

"It's just… I don't… Well…" Lucas was at a loss for words. Karen just smiled sadly.

"Let me guess… girl troubles?" Lucas nodded sadly.

"Well can I ask what happened?" she asked tentatively. Lucas sighed and sat up.

"Well you remember how I told you about Brooke, Rachel and the bonfire?" Karen nodded, "well from there came the boy draft and as you know, Haley picked me which is fine, but I'm a little hurt that she picked that ass Chris Keller just to get at Rachel over having me to herself. It's like she was putting me on hold or something." He broke off.

"Is that all? I feel like there's more to the story." Lucas sighed once more.

"It's just that well there was a party today and well I found Brooke with Chris Keller…"

"Well that doesn't sound too bad." Lucas looked at her.

"Naked." He added flatly. Karen gasped, "really?!"

"Yeah. I'm sure you can figure out what happened." Karen nodded.

"Wow… I never thought… I never expected… wow." Lucas nodded his head as well.

"Yeah, I know. I just don't know what to do anymore."

"You know, a customer once told me that the best way to get over someone was to get under someone else. Oh my God. I just realized what that meant." She gasped, "I thought it was more philosophical than that…" Lucas burst out laughing.

"Wow mom… I can't believe you just said that." Karen shrugged.

"Well it made you laugh, didn't it? Anyways, honey I wish I could help you in a situation like this but really there isn't much you can do. After everything that happened last year and what's been happening this year… I think that you need to give it some time and get over your anger. You really can't be mad at her because last year you weren't Mr. Perfect either."

"I know that. That's why I feel so terrible. I have no right to be angry after everything that happened, but it just hurts, you know?" Karen nodded understandingly.

"I know sweetie, I know. You just need to give it some time and it will get better. Things may not turn out the way you want to now, but it will all work out in the end. Now, will you be okay?" Lucas nodded mutely.

"Good." Karen said and gave him a hug. Then she got up to leave.

"Hey mom?" she turned to look at him, "thanks." Karen smiled.

"You're welcome."

Next scene shows Peyton and Brooke who are now at Brooke and Haley's apartment…

"Brooke, I know that you're upset, but everything will be okay." Brooke sighed.

"I'm not so sure about that Peyt. I mean we've already been through so much and this isn't making it any better. I just don't know what to do anymore. I just need him to forgive me.

"I know, but you need to give him some time. You guys have been through a lot, but you guys will make it through." Peyton encouraged.

"I know, but this is huge. I was harsh on him last year and who knows how he will be with me. I just I just don't want to lose him."

"Well to be honest Brooke, you haven't exactly been handling this situation very well. I mean you threw that fit at the bonfire and then the thing with Haley at the boy draft… you're giving off all of the wrong signs. You can't keep on pushing him away and expect him to wait, you know?"

"I know, I know. It's just hard. I'm scared that I will get my heart broken again and I'm not ready to trust him again. And then I had to go and do this. God! I'm such a hypocrite!" Brooke said banging her head on the table.

"Whoa whoa there. Don't go killing yourself there. Things will work out in the end. Don't worry about it. Give him some time and it will eventually be fine." Peyton said before patting Brooke's leg and then leaving.

"Yeah but whose definition of fine?" Brooke asked the silence after Peyton left.

Meanwhile, Mouth and Rachel successfully sprang Mel out of the home and are currently at a Go-Kart track…

They had spent a majority of the night racing around and Mel was having a great time. The elderly man almost looked young again yelling and hooting as he raced around the track. Mouth and Rachel were sitting in the stands taking a break from racing. They had been sitting there for nearly an hour just talking and getting to know each other better. And Rachel had to admit, it was the most fun that she'd had in a long time.

"You know… you're not like I thought you were." Mouth looked at her confused.

"Huh? What?" Rachel laughed at his expression.

"Well… who would have thought that you would have a secret like this?"

"Well who would ever believe me if I were to say that you came with me and actually persuaded me to spring Mel out for a night on the town?" Rachel laughed again.

"True. But really Mouth," Rachel said growing serious, "I doubt that Mel will forget this night for a long time." Mouth's expression sobered up at her comment.

"Well actually… Mel probably won't remember this come tomorrow."

"What? Why?" Rachel asked completely confused.

"Well you see… the truth is… the truth is that Mel has Alzheimer's disease so he probably won't remember any of it at all." Mouth said sadly.

"So then why do you visit so often?"

"Well if you really want to know, Mel is… Mel is my grandfather he just doesn't remember it. He calls me Joe instead of Mouth because that's my father's name. The two got in a huge fight and they haven't spoken since. That's why I come to visit him." Mouth said quietly as he desperately tried to keep the tears out of his eyes. Rachel gave him a sympathetic look.

"Oh Mouth… I'm so sorry." Rachel replied and then gave him a hug. He returned the hug and didn't say anything for a while.

"Well it's getting late. I think that it's about time that we take Mel back." Rachel nodded and the two turned to help the elderly man get out of his go kart and go back home.

Switch scenes to Nathan at the river court shooting hoops…

He shot a basket and relished in the sound of the ball swishing through the net. This was home; this was where he could be whatever he wanted to be. This was where he could forget and just play. He fetched the ball and dribbled down the court, enjoying the atmosphere and the sound of the ball.

He didn't know what was wrong with him lately, but he just couldn't stop being angry. He loved Haley, he really did, but he didn't think that he could ever get past all of this, not after everything that had happened.

He still couldn't believe that Brooke had slept with Chris Keller. That bastard really didn't know when to stay out of other people's lives. God he couldn't believe the audacity… he slammed the ball on the ground, taking his anger out on the ball. He was still so angry, so angry.

Nathan no longer knew what to do anymore. He didn't think that he could forgive Haley. He didn't think that they could move on past this. Even after everything she was still hanging out with Chris Keller, the guy that had started all of their problems in the first place. Didn't she know better by now? Granted he was helping her with her career, but look at where it had gotten her so far: a broken marriage and ruined friendships.

He scoffed. Why was he thinking so much about all of this? He knew what he had to do. The answer was actually burning a hole in his pocket. He knew what the next step was, they had talked about it. He just needed to take it. It was just so bittersweet…

The papers that his father had been searching so desperately for; he had them and he thought that it was about time that he took them out and signed them. Then the paperwork would all be taken care of and he would be done with this… this mess. He didn't think that it would be difficult to get Haley to sign the papers. She could keep on telling him and her that they were meant to be, but he knew better and he knew that deep down inside that she knew better too. She just didn't want to admit it yet… didn't want to accept it.

He didn't believe them one bit. He knew that there was more going on than best friends hanging out. He could see it and he could feel it. Brooke and Peyton had all explained things to him, but he knew better. He always had. After all, it had caused countless fights between them especially ever since she had come back.

"Hey," said a voice interrupting his thoughts. He looked up to see Peyton standing next to him, smiling cautiously.

"Hi…" Nathan stated trailing off.

"So a penny for your thoughts?" Peyton asked. Nathan smiled.

"Just a penny? My thoughts are worth much more than that thank you very much." Peyton giggled and Nathan chuckled with her, but then she grew serious.

"Well maybe, but honestly Nathan. What are you thinking right now?" Nathan sighed.

"I don't know… I think that I'm going to sign those papers Peyt." Peyton gasped.

"What? Are you serious? But you and Haley…"

"Me and Haley what?" Peyton didn't respond, "See what I mean? There's nothing to say. Yeah we were together, yeah we got married, but where do we go from here? I just don't know anymore. I mean when we first got married I thought… I thought you know that this was it. She was the one, but now… look at everything that we've been through. Is all of this worth what we have… had?"

"Nathan, you can't mean that. I mean every married couple has tests and problems-"

"Yeah, but as many as we have? There was Lucas, the drugs, my father, Chris Keller, her career, and now she's back and there's Lucas again. My brother… her best friend and maybe something even more. How much is going to be enough? I think I get it now. We just weren't meant to be."

"But Nathan, you guys love each other." Nathan shook his head.

"Do we really? She's the first girl I ever loved… or at least I thought I loved. But did I really know what love was… is? I don't think so. We're still so young and we barely know each other. And I don't know her nearly as well as he does… not like Lucas."

"Nathan… they're best friends-"

"Yeah but you know what they say… best friends make the best lovers and he is her best friend. I mean he even brought her back. Not me, him." Peyton sighed.

"Nathan…" Nathan shook his head again.

"No Peyton. I know I'm right and you know I am too. Just let it go, just like I have. Just help me let go." Nathan paused and gave a bittersweet smile, "you know I went for a walk after our fight at the party and guess where I wound up. I found myself going to the secluded beach location; you know where Haley and I got married? Well guess what? When I got there, the place was completely destroyed. There were bulldozers everywhere taking over the paradise… the place that was once ours."

"Oh Nathan…" Peyton started putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I'm so sorry."

"No it's okay. I'm actually glad that it was gone. It was the place of our fairy tale and in a way I'm kind of glad it's gone now. Our story was a fairy tale and fairy tales just aren't real. Our love wasn't real… not like hers and Lucas' can be. And I told her that."

"What? You mean-" Peyton asked now confused.

"Yeah, I met her there. She found me after I left the party. I guess we both had the same thoughts going there and we talked. I didn't tell her to run to him, I'm not ready for that yet. I can't accept that yet, but we talked about us. And for the first time since she came back, we didn't fight. It was kind of bittersweet really, but I think that we both know the truth. I told her that we were done, finished and it hurt a lot to admit it, but for once, my father was right. We just weren't right for each other." Nathan paused for a moment trying to fight back the tears.

"She tried to argue with me, but deep down inside she knew too. I could see it in her eyes. There was a little relief in there too. She'll never admit it, but I saw it and even though it hurt, I was kind of glad that it was there. It just proves that I'm right, but it still hurts. God it hurts. I know that I have to let go and move on, but how do I do that? I mean where do I go from here? She was the first and only girl that I ever liked like this… how do you get over that? I mean I've never felt like this before Peyt… I just don't want to be alone Peyton, it hurts." Nathan finished, blinking back his tears.

"Oh Nathan." Peyton stated, tears welling in her own eyes. She pulled him into her arms and he buried his face in her neck, "it's going to be okay. Maybe not right away, but it will be eventually. Just let it all out."

And there, in the embrace of his former girlfriend, Nathan Scott finally cried.

Meanwhile, Mouth and Rachel's "date" is coming to a close as he drops her off at her door…

"Well, I can honestly say that I had a good time. It was unexpected, but I had fun."

"That's always good to hear." Mouth responded smiling as he shifted awkwardly on her porch. Rachel suppressed a smile.

"Hey Mouth… just one question. Why do you keep going to see your grandpa when he has Alzheimer's? Isn't he just going to forget?" Mouth's smile saddened.

"Yeah he may forget, but I'll still remember, won't I? Besides, Mel doesn't have a lot of time left and no one should die alone. That's just wrong and terribly sad. So I'm going to be there for him until the end. Even if my dad never comes, at least I'll be there."

"Wow… I didn't think of that. I can understand that…" she trailed off for a second, "well, if you need a friend to tag along then I'll be happy to volunteer." Mouth smirked.

"Is that what we are? Friends?" Mouth asked half joking, half serious.

"Oh don't kid around Mouth… I know your feelings for a certain brunette head cheerleader." Rachel teased. Mouth grew somber.

"Yeah but that will never happen. I've accepted that." Rachel sighed, rolling her eyes.

"You know, it may look like Brooke is in love with Lucas, but appearances can be deceiving." Mouth shook his head.

"What do you mean? Brooke and Lucas have been chasing each other for over a year now. That's the longest Brooke has been with a guy by months." Rachel shook her head.

"Like I said, it may look like Brooke and Lucas are in love, but I still say that appearances can be deceiving. After all, look at how the boy draft turned out." Mouth scoffed.

"What you mean Haley and Lucas? Are you kidding?! Those two have been best friends since they were babies. It will never-"

"Yeah yeah, it will never happen. How many times have I heard that now? God if I got paid for every time I heard that I would drop out of high school and retire right now." Mouth laughed at her comment.

"But seriously. Sometimes, you have to look beneath the surface to see the truth and if you take a close look at them, you'll see a lot of things that have been left unsaid. Besides, they're not the only ones who are blind to what's right under their noses."

"What do you mean? Who else?" Mouth asked genuinely confused. Rachel laughed before opening the door to her house.

"Oh don't you worry Joe. It will all be revealed in due time," she paused in the doorway before going in, "and trust me. By the end of this year, everything will have fallen in place."

With that said she went into the house and left a clueless Mouth behind on her porch.

Next scene shows Haley finally at Lucas's house and knocking on his door…

Haley walked up to the door a little apprehensively. She wasn't sure what to expect on the other side of the door: an angry Lucas, a brooding Lucas, or a plain depressed Lucas were her options and none of them were appealing. She readied herself and took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

'Knock, knock.' The door opened to reveal a calm and collected Lucas. There were no signs of depression and no signs of hurt, not even any signs of anger. It took Haley a moment to recover.

"Hey," she finally managed to say while giving him a hug, "you okay?" Lucas smiled.

"You know what? I actually kind of am. I mean I was hurt and I was angry, but my mom helped me get over that and I'm actually not as angry and hurt as I thought I would be."

"Really? How so?" Haley asked as they settled down on his bed.

"Well I honestly thought that I'd never be able to forgive her but after talking to my mom and doing some thinking… thinking not brooding." Lucas said at Haley's look, Haley just laughed and smacked his shoulder, "Ouch! What was that for Hales?"

"I saw that eye roll. Don't you think that I didn't. I know what you were thinking Lucas Eugene Scott."

"Uh-oh that was the full name. Am I in trouble now? Please forgive me. Aw Hales." Lucas begged while giving her the puppy dog face. Haley laughed and turned away.

"No." Haley responded, sticking her tongue out.

"Fine!" pouted Lucas for a moment before his pout turned into a smirk. Haley began sliding away from him in fear.

"What are you up to?" his grin grew wider and he moved towards her, hand reaching out, "oh no you don't. Lucas Eugene Scott you better not mister." He was almost upon her and so in desperation Haley bolted off the bed heading for his door, but his arms grabbed her before she could get anywhere and then they went for her sides.

"Lucas- Lucas- s-stop it! Luke… t-that tickles. Lu-uke!" Haley gasped out between giggles. Lucas just smirked and continued tickling her.

"Say you forgive me. Come on Hales, say it." Haley shook her head and he proceeded to tickle her more.

"No- no. Luke! S-stop! I- I can't br-breathe." Haley gasped out as she tried to push him away or even retaliate.

"Oh come on now Hales. You know I'm the master here. You can't beat me." Haley looked up at him and found herself lost. She was lying across his lap, wrapped up in his arms, with him leaning over her. She looked at his face and took in the cocky smile, the cute dimple in his left cheek, and his eyes… his amazing blue eyes that she suddenly found herself lost in. She's never been this entranced not even with Nathan…

Nathan… the thought of him made her draw back, but then she remembered their encounter earlier and smiled sadly. Nathan was right… but she'd never tell him that.

"Hales?" Lucas asked confused and concerned, interrupting her train of thought. She pushed aside thoughts of Nathan and allowed herself to be lost in his eyes again… Lucas' eyes.

"Lucas…" Haley whispered before pulling his face down to hers and kissing him.

It's Monday again and Brooke is waiting for Lucas who is seen walking in when Rachel come ups behind her…

"So… you regret your actions yet?" Rachel asked with an air of satisfaction. Brooke glowered and turned to the girl.

"None of you business bitch." Brooke snapped back angrily.

"Oh? What's this? Is our poor captain angry?" Rachel teased with a smirk. Brooke took a deep breath trying to control her anger.

"Whatever Rachel, you got what you wanted from the draft but don't think you're going to be getting anything else. At least Lucas is far away from you!" she retorted angrily.

"Yeah but would you look at that… looks like tutor wife is moving in on your man… or is it just tutor girl now?" Rachel asked evilly looking past Brooke. Brooke spun around just in time to witness Haley and Lucas bump into each other in the hall and share what appeared to be an awkward moment.

When they bumped into each other, Haley dropped her books and her things went scattering. The two scrambled to gather her things when both reached for the same book and their hands brushed. Immediately the pair froze before Lucas drew back as though burned. Brooke wasn't sure, but she swore she saw hurt flash through Haley's eyes before both recovered and finished gathering her things. Then the pair slowly got up and attempted awkwardly to walk around each other, but both mirrored the other's moves, blocking the other's way. They did this little dance of moving left and right until finally both went in opposite directions and walked away, both glancing back when the other wasn't looking.

"Hmmm… I wonder what that was all about. Interesting… very interesting." Rachel turned back to Brooke smirking, "see what did I tell you? You shouldn't be worried about what I'll do to Mouth. I'll say that your biggest concern should be those two over there. I mean did you honestly think that hottie over there would be safe in the hands of tutor girl?"

"Shut up bitch! You don't know what you're talking about. They're just best friends; they've always been best friends." Brooke said persuading herself along with Rachel. 'Lucas and Haley would never do that to me. That slut is just trying to turn me against my friends so that I won't focus on her breaking Mouth's hurt.'

"Well then isn't now the perfect time for them to be more?" Brooke shook her head.

"No. Lucas and Haley would never do that to me and Nathan. Besides, Lucas loves me; he wants to be with me." Brooke stated firmly, hiding her doubt in her mind.

"Whatever you say, oh wise captain." Rachel said walking away, but she paused for a second, "oh and by the way. Excellent job Saturday night. It honestly couldn't have worked out any better even if I had planned it out. Now you've got the soon to be divorced tutor girl and a certain broken hearted blonde… who better to turn to than another broken hearted soul for comfort?" Brooke lost it. She walked up to Rachel, tapped her shoulder, and punched her in the face as the girl turned around.

"You bitch! How dare you?!" Brooke shouted angrily and threw herself at the fallen girl only to be held back by a pair of arms. She turned to see Chris Keller holding her and fought to free herself, "let go of me you asshole!" He smirked.

"Now Brooke… you can't tell me you really mean that. Not after that night we had." Brooke growled angrily.

"Fuck off you bastard!" Brooke glowered at him and his smirk grew even bigger. He then leaned in close, putting his lips right to her ear before whispering.

"Now do you really want me to do that?" Brooke fought the shiver that went down her spine, "didn't think so." He let her go and Brooke brushed herself off.

"You know where to find me." And with that Chris Keller walked off.

"Brooke, what the hell is the matter with you?!" Brooke turned to see Mouth bending over Rachel, helping her get up.

"Mouth I-" Mouth interrupted her.

"No! I don't want to hear it. Didn't Lucas already tell you this?! What's more important here: your stupid little competition with Rachel or your relationships with your friends? Because from my perspective it isn't the second one." Mouth finished before walking off with Rachel.

Brooke fell to the ground at a loss. She heard a scoff above her and her heart clenched when she saw Lucas looking at her with a mixture of disappointment and anger.

"Lucas…" she trailed off unsure of what to say.

"Nothing going on between you and Chris… right. I'm out of here." Lucas muttered before walking away. Brooke looked around her and saw no one. For the first time in a long time she felt truly alone and she didn't know what to do.

At the gym, during class Nathan and Lucas are "chatting" as the boys play a game of basketball…

"Geez, your game sucks big bro. Fix it." Nathan taunted to Lucas. Lucas glared back.

"Your marriage sucks. Fix it." Lucas retorted. Nathan smirked.

"Oh it's already been taken care of. I signed the papers this morning." Lucas froze long enough for Nathan to move around him and shoot a basket. Lucas' teammates groaned as the ball went in. Lucas ignored them and turned back to Nathan.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?" Lucas asked, passing the ball to him.

"Oh didn't you hear? I thought she would have told you by now. After all, aren't you guys best friends?" Nathan asked, throwing the ball back at him, causing Lucas to take a couple of steps backwards from the force of the throw.

"Just tell me what you're talking about Nathan. What papers? Did you mean the divorce papers?" Lucas snapped as he passed the ball to a teammate. Nathan's smirk grew even bigger.

"Well of course big brother. What other papers would I be talking about? So you see, I've already fixed my marriage… or should I say ended it?" Lucas growled angrily.

"You bastard… how could you do this to Haley? She loves you."

"Oh don't worry brother. She already knows. In fact, I told her Saturday right after the party. Which by the way was another awesome night. I know what happened with Brooke and Chris Keller. In fact, the whole school knows. But you better get it together before the game tomorrow or don't even bother playing. After all, your game really hasn't been much lately." Nathan said and as if to emphasize that fact he stole the ball from Lucas and ran down court shooting another basket, winning the game. Before he left for the locker room he called over his shoulder, "Oh and by the way… forgive her. She loves you." Lucas glared at him.

"Doesn't help much, does it?" Lucas didn't respond, "I'll see you later brother." Nathan disappeared into the locker room leaving Lucas behind to slam the ball angrily on the ground."

Meanwhile, with Mouth and Rachel, a while after the incident …

"So is your face okay?" Mouth asked awkwardly as he sat with Rachel who had an ice pack against her cheek. Rachel pulled the pack away and smiled.

"Oh yeah, just peachy." Rachel said genuinely. Mouth gave her a confused look, "really?" Rachel laughed.

"Yeah, it turned out just the way I wanted it to." Mouth was still confused.

"Wait you mean you planned this?" he asked growing angry. Rachel shook her head.

"No, not at all, but I wish I had. Chris Keller coming just made it even better and Brooke's reaction to me and then him just cemented my point even more." Rachel crowed.

"What do you mean? I don't get it." Rachel smiled at him.

"It's what we talked about yesterday, Joe. Brooke is worried about the relationship between Lucas and Haley, she just won't admit it. And I know for a fact that Chris Keller gets to her more than she'll admit. Today just proved that and Lucas saw it all."

"You know Rachel, I just don't get you. Are you after Lucas? You know that he doesn't have feelings for you, so why are you pursuing it so much?" Rachel smirked.

"Oh no, I'm not after Lucas. I have no interest in him at all. Tutor girl can have him all to herself. I'm actually-"

"Honestly Rachel. How many times to I have to tell you?! Haley and Lucas are just friends. Just friends, nothing more, nothing less!" Rachel shook her head.

"Yeah yeah, I heard you, but you didn't see what I saw this morning."

"What are you talking about? I don't get you."

"Oh it's nothing important. I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Anyways, as I was saying before you rudely interrupted me. I'm not after Lucas. I'm much more interested in Brooke." Mouth's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Rachel took one glance at him and rolled her eyes before smacking the back of his head.

"Not in that way you idiot. God, what is wrong with the males in this stupid town? She's like the queen bee of this town and as the new girl in town; it's my job to bring her perfect world crashing down around her."

"Um… I can't let you do that. You may not know this, but Brooke is a really nice girl and she doesn't deserve any of what you're doing to her."

"Oh don't worry about it lover boy. You'll get to be her knight in shining armor plenty of time. Like I said before, when I'm through with this town, everything will have fallen to its proper place. Just sit back and enjoy the ride Joe."

"Mouth… my name is Mouth." Mouth responded shaking his head at her.

"I know. I just like calling you Joe."

Brooke and Haley are at the mall in an attempt to cheer Brooke up when they run into Lucas…

"Thanks for coming here with me Haley." Brooke stated giving the girl a hug.

"Oh well it's not like I needed much persuasion. Shopping can be quite fun when you go with the right people." Haley responded while returning the hug.

"Well anyways, where to first? We have to make a stop at all of my favorites, Suburban Filth being on the top of that list of course."

"Of course Brooke, how about we head over there first then?" Brooke nodded.

"Okay then, away we goo…" she trailed off and Haley looked at her concerned.

"Brooke? Brooke? What's the matter?" Haley asked confused before looking in front of her and freezing. She didn't know what to do and this was definitely one of the most awkward situations that she had been in… not counting this morning's encounter of course.

"Oh… hi Lucas." Haley breathed out uneasily. Lucas looked awkwardly at the two girls before looking at the ground.

"Hi." Lucas mumbled to himself. Haley didn't know what to do. Had he been acting this way with anyone other than her, she would have commented on how cute he was when he was flustered, but she didn't want him to be awkward around her. Unfortunately, it was too late for that.

She didn't exactly regret kissing him. She would never regret doing that. She just regretted kissing him that particular night given their current situation which had been the reason for his reaction to her kiss.

At first he had kissed her back, pushing her onto the bed until they were lying flat on the bed with him on top of her. And Haley had relished in the feeling of him kissing her, running her hands through his hair and running her tongue against his lips. He had groaned opening his mouth and their tongues had met.

Then, just when Haley was beginning to feel his reaction to their kiss and her hands were sliding under his shirt, Lucas had pulled away with a gasp and shaking his head.

_"We can't do this Hales.__ You're with Nathan and I'm… I'm with Brooke. I love Brooke."_

That last part had been more than enough to stop her protests. She had been ready to tell him that she was no longer with Nathan and that they were most likely going to get a divorce, but then he said that he loved Brooke. She wouldn't deny the stab of jealousy that she felt at his comment, but at the same time she chalked it away as a normal reaction.

Instead, she had nodded her head in agreement and told him that he was right and they had agreed to forget what had happened. After all, she was technically on the rebound so it's not like what she was feeling for Lucas right now truly meant anything. She sighed before turning her attention back to the situation at hand.

Brooke was desperately trying to get Lucas to talk to her, while Lucas was ignoring her the best he could. Haley could see the tears forming in the girl's eyes and felt a flash of guilt for kissing Lucas.

"Well I'm just going to go now Hales. You'll be at the game, right?" Lucas asked finally looking up to meet her eyes. The hopeful and pleading look in his eyes were too much to deny.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world Luke." Haley responded smiling. He grinned a genuine smiled and Haley felt her knees grow weak at the dimples that formed and the sparkle that shown in his eyes.

"Great. I'll see-" Lucas asked.

"Luke," interrupted Brooke, "please, let me just explain…" Lucas shot her a cold glare before turning to Hales once more.

"Don't talk to me." Lucas responded in an emotionless voice. Tears formed in Brooke's eyes before she ran away sobbing. Haley thought she saw guilt flash through his eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"Luke…" Haley trailed off, "you should really talk to her. Forgive her, Luke. I mean she loves you." Haley saw a strange look cross his face, but before she could question it he spoke.

"Anyways, I'll see you at the game, right?" Haley nodded in response and he flashed a grin and paused for a moment before giving her a quick peck on the cheek and running off.

'Yeah…' Haley thought to herself, 'I can definitely forget that we ever kissed. Yeah I'm just on the rebound… just on the-' she was interrupted by a loud squeal.

"Tutor girl!"Brooke squealed, "guess what?! My designs are on the mannequins… my designs are on the mannequins!"

"Oh really? That's great, Tigger." Haley responded absentmindedly. Her gaze was still riveted on the back of a certain blond basketball player.

"Come on girl! We have to call Peyton and go celebrate! Well not before you guys see the mannequins first. Then I need to talk to my boss…" Brooke went on and on as she dragged Haley with her. Haley just let herself be dragged as she kept staring back at Lucas' figure even after it disappeared out of sight.

Meanwhile, at a familiar car dealership, our favorite resident troublemaker and jerk was walking into the office of a fellow jerk even worse than him…

"Hello. What can I do for you sir?" Dan asked all in business mode.

"You know, you can cut the crap with me Mr. Scott. I know how you really are. I'm Chris by the way. Chris Keller." Dan's eyebrow rose.

"Really? Chris Keller? The infamous Chris Keller. Well it's a pleasure to finally meet you Chris. As you know, I'm Dan Scott, father of this town's basketball star and future mayor." Dan stated while shaking Chris' hand. Chris smirked.

"I know who you are." Chris responded.

"And I know who you are. In fact, I'm your biggest fan. Granted I'm not exactly fond of your music, but I love the way you ruined my son's marriage. It was great really, just perfect."

"Thanks, but I didn't really do that. Your stupid son did that for himself." Dan's smile disappeared from his face and his expression hardened.

"Well what can I do for you Chris?" Chris smiled.

"I just want my 500 bucks." Chris declared. Dan gave him a look.

"Excuse me? What are you talking about?"

"Nathan owes me 500 bucks. He's 500 dollars short of his payment for Haley's album." Dan's expression hardened even more.

"Well there's no way in hell that I'm going to pay for that girl's album so you'll just have to take that up with someone else. Why don't you try the other Scott… because I'm not letting my son pay for her album either."

"Fine then. I'll just take that up with Lucas… I'm sure he'll be willing to pay and if not, I know he'll figure something out."

"See, I like your mind boy. So let's see you use it now. Let's talk some real money huh? After all 500 dollars is nothing compared to what I can offer you." Dan declared waving a bunch of bills in Chris' face. Chris' eyes widened in shock and greed.

"Well what did you have in mind Mr. Scott?" Dan smirked.

"Here's what I want you to do…"

** Scene fa****d****e****s**** out****…****end of the episode**


	4. Episode 309

Episode 309: NAME

An overview of the town is shown, with flashes of various places and people…

The entire town was celebrating the first Ravens game of the upcoming season. Banners are strung up all across town including the mall where an excited Brooke has gone to talk to her boss at Suburban Filth.

"Oh hey Brooke. How are you doing today?"

"Well for a day that started out terribly, quite awesome thank you. How are you?"

"Oh just fine, the sales just keep coming in. By the way congratulations on your designs. I must say that they're a great addition to the store." Brooke smiled.

"Thank you. Speaking of my designs um… I was just wondering, when do I get paid for those designs?" Her boss' smile began to fade.

"Um actually, didn't you know? You don't get paid for your designs, I'm sorry Brooke. When you began working here, you signed a waiver here and your entire line belongs to us now. Don't you remember? I'm really sorry, but you do get a 10% discount." The smiled wiped completely off of Brooke's face.

"Oh well uh… I didn't know that. It must have slipped my mind. I'm sorry. Anyways, look at the time, I need to go. I'll see you around. Bye." With that Brooke quickly scurried out. She walked as fast as she could without running until she got to her car where she slid in behind the wheel and pressed her forehead against it.

"Well… time to get my cheer face on… it's game day!" Brooke stated with a fake smile. She then pulled out of the parking lot and drove to school. Once she got there, she parked her car and gathered her stuff to get ready for the game.

"Hey Brooke!" Brooke turned around to see both Peyton and Haley heading towards her.

"Oh hey girls" Brooke responded as they got in line next to her.

"What's wrong?" Peyton immediately asked, sensing her friend's depression.

"Oh nothing really… just that remember how my designs got put out by Suburban Filth? Well it turns out that when I got the job, I signed a waiver and so all of my designs actually belong to them, so I get nothing except for a 10% discount." Peyton and Haley both smiled at her sympathetically.

"Oh Brooke… I'm sorry. That's terrible." Haley said as they walked into the school.

"Yeah I know. It's just not fair. Those were my designs! Mine! I came up with them and I drew them! It's not fair that I get nothing for it and Luke still won't talk to me, let alone look at me."

"Yeah, I know the feeling… I don't even know what's going on between me and Nate anymore."

"At least you guys know where your significant others are… I have no clue." Peyton responded.

"Oh, where did we go so wrong?" Haley sighed.

"Well I slept with Chris Keller and you went on tour with him." Brooke said with a wry smile.

"It could be worse you know." Peyton said trying to be optimistic. At Brooke's skeptical look, Peyton just rolled her eyes, "I mean I could have married Chris Keller or something." The three girls burst into giggles, but Brooke sobered up quickly.

"Come on Brooke. You need to be a little more positive here."

"Okay, whatever you say P Sawyer." Brooke responded as they approached the locker room.

"Seriously, when did we start letting boys dictate our happiness?" Haley asked.

"I was 9." Brooke stated bluntly. The other girls looked at her but didn't know what to say.

"Uh Ms. Davis," the three girls turned around to see their coach coming towards them, "I'm sorry Brooke, but you cannot cheer for tonight's game."

"What?! What are you talking about?" Haley exclaimed shocked.

"According to my record, you missed school today and as head cheerleader, I know you know the rules. If you miss school on game day, you are not allowed to cheer for the game."

"You missed school today? But I saw you this morning-" Peyton started

"Yeah I was here, but after that thing with that b*tch and Luke… I just couldn't stay there anymore. I know I know." Brooke responded at their looks.

"I'm sorry Brooke, but I can't allow you to cheer."

"It's okay Coach. There's nothing much to cheer about anyway. I'll see you tomorrow P. Sawyer and I'll meet you at home Haley." Brooke stated before heading to the exit of the school while their coach entered the locker room.

"Okay Brooke… Bye." The two girls watched Brooke walk away sadly. When she finally disappeared, the two shifted uncomfortably, realizing that they were alone together for the first time in a long time.

"This isn't right. Poor Brooke." Haley said, awkwardly breaking the silence.

"Yeah I know…" she trailed off, "look Haley I know that things between us haven't been that great lately and I know it's mostly my fault, but let's put that all aside to help out Brooke."

"Okay. I'm sorry for getting angry with you about the boy draft. I mean Nathan did ask you to pick him so how can I blame you for helping out your friend?"

"It's okay. I don't blame you; I mean he is your husband."

"Yeah… if that's what you can call it. I don't know what to do about that anymore. But there are more important things now like helping out Brooke especially with the whole Luke situation." Haley stated sadly.

"Oh well I think that you've helped out enough with that, don't you Haley?" Came a cocky voice from behind the two girls. They turned around to come face to face with a smirking Chris Keller.

"Chris Keller… just the guy we wanted to see." Haley said sarcastically.

"What the hell is your problem, who do you think you are, why do you insist on going around ruining people's lives?" Peyton shouted angrily.

"Well one: I have no problem, it's fun. Two: I'm Chris Keller. And three: I didn't ruin Brooke's life. She didn't have to do anything, she was into me. I'm just that irresistible."

"Whatever, Brooke would never purposefully do anything to ruin things with her and Luke." Haley responded.

"Really? Well who did she spend Saturday night with? It wasn't Luke's name she was calling out that night and I know she was having a good –" SMACK! Chris' head snapped to the right as Peyton slapped him as hard as she could, leaving a red handprint across his left cheek.

"You asshole! How can you live with yourself?! Go to hell!" exclaimed an angry Peyton.

"Honestly, you can take yourself and that cocky attitude and shove it up your ass!" Haley added as they walked away from him.

"You know… that felt good." Peyton said giggling.

"Yeah it really did," Haley responded turning to her, "so do you forgive me for leaving?"

"Yes, yes I do. I was just angry because I'm so sick and tired of everyone leaving and I was just taking my anger out on you when you didn't really deserve it. I'm sorry."

"Well I did leave, but I forgive you." Haley said as they laughed.

"I really am happy that you actually came back. Welcome home Haley." Peyton said hugging a teary eyed Haley.

"Oh Peyton, I missed you!" Haley replied, returning the hug.

Meanwhile... while the two girls are making up, Brooke is at home in her living room.

"This sucks!" Brooke said to herself as she sat on her couch in front of the TV, watching a chick flick and eating some cake.

"Well you did bring most of it upon yourself." Brooke said before shoving some more cake into her mouth.

"Sigh… what am I going to do?" Brooke asked herself, before shutting off the TV and falling back on her couch.

Next, in the locker room, before the big game, the team is getting ready

Whitey walks in to the changing area amidst excited hooting and chants all around the lockers. He smiles as the motivation the players seem to be showing.

"All right, all right now! Settle down boys!" he called across the locker room, "now gather around these benches here, I have an announcement to make." The entire team gathered around the center of the locker room, wondering what Whitey wanted to say.

"I just wanted to say that's it has been a fun ride boys but I am getting old so I will be retiring after the season. This season will be my last one boys and I want to go out a winner! You hear me boys? I am going out a winner!"

"All right guys, let's hear it for Whitey. We're winning this for Whitey. Gather around boys, hands in the middle. Whitey on 3, 1, 2, 3… WHITEY!" the team shouts before heading toward the exit of the locker room. Lucas joins them, equally pumped but before he reaches the exit, a hand grabs his arm. He turns around and frowns to see Nathan standing there.

"You've been sucking really badly at practices big bro." Nathan states pointing his finger to Lucas' chest.

"Whatever Nathan." Luke responds, rolling his eyes.

"Don't whatever me. I'm just saying don't screw this one up. Just remember, if you screw up for the team you'll be screwing up for Whitey too. Later bro." Nathan said sarcastically before bumping shoulders with Lucas and exiting the locker room.

"Well great. Just what I needed for this game." Lucas said to himself sarcastically as he walked out onto the court. He looked around and noticed that Brooke was missing amongst the cheerleaders. His eyes met with Haley's and he raised an eyebrow and she shook her head. He tried not to think about the kiss as he approached her, pushing in to the back of his mind, telling himself that he was caught up in the moment, she was on the rebound and he loves Brooke.

"Hey. Where's Brooke?" Lucas asked once he'd cleared his head.

"Um yeah… about that. Well apparently she missed school this morning and well you know the policy so yeah, she can't cheer today." Lucas frowned.

"Oh… great. This game can't get any worse…" Lucas muttered to himself.

"I'm really sorry Luke." Haley said sympathetically.

"Nah, it's fine. At least you're here." Lucas said trying to cheer himself up. Haley smiled.

"Yeah, this is true. We always stick together and you know that I'll always be here."

"I know, I know. And me too." Lucas responded before pulling her into a hug. He took a second to breathe in her scent before he realized what he was doing and pulled away. What was wrong with him? Ever since that kiss… he shook his head again.

"Well you should start warming up now. The game's going to start soon."

"Yeah, I better go. I'll see you after the game?" Haley nodded.

"Definitely. Good luck!" Haley called as he jogged off to the rest of the team. The smile hadn't left her face and she didn't think that it would. It faltered for a second as she pondered the hug. She wasn't sure, but it had felt like the hug had been an extra moment or too longer than it should have been for friends, but she was probably imagining it. It wasn't like she wanted it to be a non-friendly hug; she didn't, right? Right Haley told herself as she went to rejoin the other cheerleaders in boosting the spirits of the crowd minutes before the game.

As all of this was happening on the court… at the announcer table, Mouth sat contemplating the events of the last few days…

'Wow… these last two weeks have been crazy. I don't even know what to do anymore, let alone what I'm feeling'

In the last two weeks Mouth had learned that there was a lot more to Rachel than what she showed, on the surface. At first she had seemed like the complete and utter bitch that Brooke had been moaning to him about, but after spending the past few days with her, he had to admit that she was truly an awesome girl. Granted she really wasn't the nicest person, but at least she was honest and true to herself. There were a lot of girls in this town that tried to put up a front and he was sick of it. It was nice to experience something different for once.

During this time he had also learned a lot about himself and about some people he had thought he had known better than anyone else. He hadn't expected to see the side of Brooke that he had been seeing these last couple of days. She was his best friend and he had been in love with her for quite some time, but this wasn't the Brooke that he loved. She was being unreasonable, angry and just plain rude at times and he didn't appreciate it. He loved her and he let her go to her various guys from Felix to even one of his friends, Lucas, but when he actually displayed interest in another girl… when that girl showed interest in him, she suddenly got possessive and angry. It wasn't fair at all.

He just didn't understand what was going on with her anymore. She wasn't even in love with him but she still thought that he wasn't allowed to date other girls. Brooke acted as though his attention had to be focused one hundred percent on her and that was just selfish.

He sometimes wondered if maybe, just maybe she was jealous. The way she was acting… the signs were all there, but then he'd see her pining after Lucas and have to face the facts that he was just being wishful. She'd never be jealous of him with anyone else. Brooke simply didn't feel that way with him, period. It hurt, but maybe it was time he accepted that fact. It would make his life easier and far less painful. Maybe this entire situation… and Rachel would be a way for him to finally get past this obstacle, to finally give up on the girl who owned his heart: Brooke Davis.

Meanwhile, at the Ravens' basketball game…

SWISH! Lucas smiled at the sound of the ball gliding into the net. He could feel that he was on his game tonight. He would not let Nathan's words get to him. He would not let Brooke's absence get to him. No, he was going to focus on the game and what he was here to do. He was not alone on this court. His brother may hate him again, the girl of his dreams may not be here, hell he may even have a heart condition, but he would not let any of those factors get him down. Not today, not this game, not ever.

The game was about to start and they were finishing up their warm ups and Lucas knew that he was ready. This was the first game of the season and he was not going to start failing now. This season was for the team, for Whitey, and most importantly himself. He would not give up on basketball. This was his home, where he was most comfortable. Everything else… Brooke, Nathan, Chris Keller, even Haley, he would leave off the court.

His mind wandered back to Haley. From what he had gathered from Nathan, it seemed like he had already signed the divorce papers and that Haley knew about it. Or at least they had talked sometime this weekend and come to the conclusion that they were pretty much over. Lucas refused to agree with that. He had seen their relationship develop; he had watched them fall in love. He would not let them give it all up so easily. Not after all these years and the progress that they had made. He would not let Dan be right. Haley and Nathan deserved each other… they love each other. He refused to accept any other possibility or any other logic for his need to get them back together. They were just meant to be. He resolved himself to talking to Haley after the game and to take their jealousy plan seriously. That way things would move along for himself and Brooke as well as Haley and Nathan.

"Hey man, you ready for this?" Skills asked walking up to Lucas. Lucas nodded his head as he took another shot from the free throw line.

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Lucas asked genuinely confused.

"Well I mean the opening with Whitey and well you know." Skills responded motioning to the sidelines of the court.

"What are you talking about Skills? And what are you pointing at?" Skills grabbed Lucas' arm and turned him around, pointing to the sidelines of the court. Lucas looked around confused until he noticed Chris Keller standing on the sidelines, chatting with the cheerleaders… more specifically Haley.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Lucas asked angrily.

"Uh… Lucas… didn't you know? Chris Keller's singing the anthem before our game." Lucas faltered in his shooting, missing his next free throw.

"What?! Are you serious?! You've got to be kidding me!" Lucas muttered to himself. He was not going to let this get to him. He was not. That bastard was only going to sing the anthem; that was it. He was just here to sing the anthem and that was it. Lucas only had to watch him sing the anthem and then he could forget about him for a while; focus on the game. He could do this.

Peyton looked around wearily at the scene before her. Chris Keller was here at the game and he was singing the national anthem. To make things worse, he was standing with the cheerleaders, surrounded by them, but his attention was focused solely on Haley. With both of the Scott brothers glaring coldly at the jerk's back, Peyton had a really bad feeling about this situation.

"Hey Chris, what are you doing here?" Peyton asked as she stepped into the conversation going on between Haley and Chris.

"Oh nothing really. Just here to grace you all with my singing. You should all be honored, really. It's not very often that you guys get someone with as much talent as I do to sing the national anthem for you." Peyton rolled her eyes. This guy was just too much.

"Well that's nice. Anyways, shouldn't you be somewhere else, warming up or something?"Chris scoffed and looked scandalized at her suggestion.

"Me? Warm up? This is Chris Keller you're talking to. Chris Keller doesn't need warm ups in order to perform." Peyton rolled her eyes again as Chris winked suggestively at Haley. She was relieved that Haley looked ready to puke at the wink.

"Well either way, the game is about to start, so we should get ready and so should you." Haley responded. Chris actually agreed to this statement and turned to walk away, only to bump right into one of the Scott brothers with the other one standing not too far away.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Chris asked as he smirked at Nathan.

"Get out of my face Keller!" Nathan growled; the anger clear on his face. Chris held his hands up in surrender, taking a step back.

"Settle down there, Superstar. If I remember correctly, you were the one standing right behind me. But, you're right. I'll step out of your way. After all, we both have more important things to do. Or at least I do." Chris stated as he leered at Haley. The fury in Nathan's eyes only increased.

"Stay the hell away from her." Lucas growled, stepping in front of Haley. Chris raised an eyebrow in surprise. Then the smirk on his face widened.

"My, my. Do my eyes deceive me? I must say Haley James, I'm impressed. Not only have you married the younger Scott, but you've also sunk your claws into the older one as well? Nice work! I congratulate you. You really are learning the trade of the artist. Do whatever you have to in order to get those records made… or should I say do whomever?" Both Lucas and Nathan lunged for him. Tim and Skills grabbed Nathan, while Haley stepped in front of Lucas. Lucas tried to step around her, desperate to beat up Chris Keller.

"Lucas, please. He's not worth it. Come on. The last thing we need is for you to be benched before the game even begins." Haley pleaded, staring up into his eyes. Lucas growled, but took a step back.

"You better watch your back Keller. I'm letting you go this time, but I'm not going to be so easy on you next time." Lucas sated, glaring at him. Chris scoffed.

"Oh please, spare me. I think we all know that you're nothing more than talk Scott. After all, if I recall correctly, it was me who was getting under a certain brunette last –" he was interrupted by Lucas' furious shout as he charged at Chris. Thankfully, Skills, Nathan, and Tim all grabbed him in time, preventing Lucas from getting kicked out of the game. He struggled against them, trying to get at Chris as Keller continuously taunted him. The group was starting to cause a scene and the gym had begun to quiet down as people noticed the action going on near the Ravens' sidelines. Whitey's shrill whistle interrupted anything else that could have happened just as Lucas slipped from the grasp of the three players.

"Hey! What the hell is going on here?" Whitey shouted. Immediately everyone turned away, not having a response. Chris Keller put on a charming smiled and decided to respond.

"There is nothing to worry about here, Coach. We were all just getting reacquainted. You see I left town for a while and I just came back. They were just saying hi to an old friend." At Whitey's skeptical look, Chris added, "I know it's a little unconventional to greet a friend like that, but hey, that's just the way things are when it comes to me… unique!" Everyone else rolled their eyes but said nothing.

"Okay… you can go back to your seat Keller. The game's about to start. Same with you girls. As for the rest of you… get back to the bench!" Whitey barked, turning to his players. Nathan and Lucas glared at the smirking Chris Keller before heading towards the sidelines. As they reached the bench and went to sit down, they heard a remark.

"By the way… good luck you two. God only knows you guys are going to need it. Especially since I'm going to be watching it. That's right; I'm not here just to sing. I'm here to watch you play… and lose. I don't know if you guys have noticed it by now, but Chris Keller always gets his way and this time… he wants you to lose. Have fun sucking… losers!" Chris called out from his seat. Both Nathan and Lucas turned in their seats, ready to punch Chris' lights out.

"SCOTT! I don't know what you guys were up to, but I'm not stupid. Be thankful neither one of you actually hit him. Otherwise I would bench you right now! I'm really starting to rethink this whole captain thing for the two of you! Especially you Lucas. Now I don't know what your problem is but you better fix it now! There's no time and this is our first game. Put aside whatever your problems are and focus on the game… now!" Both Lucas and Nathan nodded, before glaring at each other and joining their team on the sideline. Lucas' good mood was quickly deteriorating, but he was not going to let Chris Keller get to him. He wasn't.

At the announcers table, Mouth was happily giving the audience a play by play voice-over of what was going on in the game…

"Oh and there he is again. Number 51 of the Lions scores again and it is now 45- 26 Knights with only 2 minutes left in the half!" Mouth cheerfully announced. His tone was misleading to the crowd, but everyone on the Ravens' side knew that it was a pretense Mouth was keeping to stay neutral. The Ravens were getting killed out there and he was really concerned about Lucas. The entire team had been playing horribly, but none of them were as bad as Lucas. He was playing out there like 5-year old who had never seen a basketball before ever in his life. The person he had been guarding the entire game, Number 51 was taking serious advantage of Lucas' lack of skills and building up points.

Lucas wasn't the only on doing terrible. Even Nathan and Skills were making mistakes. Whitey was furious at them. He had tried subbing them out, but his substitutes were playing even worse than his starters, so he had no choice but to put them back in. He was not a happy man.

Mouth wondered what was going on with the team. Minutes before the game they had seemed hyped and ready to go, but after that encounter the Chris Keller, Mouth couldn't help but wonder if the guy had really gotten to the team or specifically the Scott brothers. A shrill whistle interrupted his thoughts and he tuned in just in time to see an angry Lucas approach the ref.

"What?! Are you kidding me?! That was an accident! There was no foul!" Lucas screamed at the ref. The ref merely ignored him and Skills grabbed Lucas, but he pulled away and punched the pole supporting the net. The ref blew the whistle turning to the crowd.

"Unsportsmanlike conduct. Ravens, Number 03, technical foul. This is number 03's second Foul, disqualified until next point is made." The ref called out. There were a series of boos in response as Lucas slammed the ball back to an opposing player and went to sit on the bench. Mouth glanced towards the side and caught Haley's eye. She gave him a worried glance and he shrugged in response not knowing how to respond. Any further communication was interrupted by the horn announcing that the first half was over. Haley quickly jogged over to the announcer's table to talk to Mouth.

"Haley, what's going on? I've never seen Lucas act this way before. Is it because of what happened before the game with Chris Keller? What did happen between them anyways?" Haley shook her head.

"I'm not really sure Mouth. I think Chris had something to do with it, but I think it's also because Brooke's not here and I don't know. I think there's something more going on. I can't really explain what I think is happening or what happened earlier because of the halftime show, but I'll talk to Lucas afterwards and fill you in later, okay?" Mouth nodded in response and Haley hurried off to join her squad at center court.

Meanwhile, in the locker room, the Ravens are getting the lecture of a lifetime. Whitey is tearing into them about their terrible performance and at one point he's too furious to say anything. He turns to Lucas and starts ripping into him personally, further sinking Lucas' already low spirits.

"And you Scott! If practices weren't enough, here you are at our opening game and what are you doing?! I honestly have no clue! You were out there and it's clear that you've never played basketball before! You even argued with the ref and cost us a player until someone scores a point! And it damn well better not be them that scores!" Whitey roared at Lucas before turning to Nathan and Skills, "and it isn't bad enough that I have one player playing like a 5 year old, I have two others playing like GIRLS! My grandmother can shoot better than you! So much for retiring on a good note!" The locker room doors slammed shut Whitey stormed back out to the court. Nathan immediately got up and faced his brother.

"Way to go big brother. That was a great way of showing your worth for this team. I told you not to mess this up and what do you do? You go and mess it up. Good job!" Nathan said sarcastically as he got into his brother's face. Lucas turned his head away angrily, but Nathan grabbed his face.

"No you look at me! I'm talking to you and you need to listen da-" Nathan was pulled away from Lucas. He quickly turned to rip into the person who grabbed him but was interrupted.

"Hey! Why don't you lay off? Luke wasn't the only one who sucked out there. We all did. So instead of blaming him, why don't you work on figuring out what you're doing wrong? Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I am going to go out there and fix this. It's Whitey's last season and we are not going down as losers. Not tonight, not next week, not ever!" Skills exclaimed before exiting the locker room. Nathan scoffed angrily, but followed him out the door.

"Damn it!" Lucas muttered to himself as the rest of the team slowly filed out, "I told myself that I wouldn't let everything get to me. Why am I letting them win?! I have to turn this around. I can do this!" Lucas vowed to himself before following his team back out onto the court. He reluctantly took his seat on the sidelines, waiting impatiently for the second half to start and for someone, hopefully a teammate, to score.

"Hey," he felt a hand touch his shoulder, "are you okay?" Lucas looked up to see Haley standing behind him, with a concerned look on her face. He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay… well as okay as I can be with the whole HCM, Nathan, and Brooke things. And Chris Keller being here is really not helping. I'm trying not to think about those things but I can't help it and I keep losing my focus." Lucas explained, frustrated. Haley smiled sympathetically.

"You and I both buddy. But you know what? The Lucas I know is strong enough to get past all of this. I know he's made of better stuff than what he's been showing on that court. This is your opportunity, you chance to take all of that stuff and put it behind you, to move past it. Take that anger, the frustration and channel that energy out into your game. Make those baskets and turn this game around. Just forget about everything else and win. I know you can do it."

"You really think I can do all of that?" Lucas asked skeptically. Haley nodded.

"It's you we're talking about Lucas Scott. I know you and I know you can do this and I know that you're a great basketball player. So what you need to do is show them the awesome guy that I see every day. I believe in you and I know that you can do anything." Lucas smiled in response.

"You really believe in me that much Hales?" Haley grinned.

"Of course I do. You're my number one hero and even if you don't win this game, I'll still be proud of you because I know that you'll have tried your best and that you gave this game everything you got. I'll be proud because I know that despite everything that's going on in your life right now, you did not let it get to you; you moved past it and still put your all out there. That's the Lucas Scott I know and that's the Lucas Scott that you'll always be for me." Lucas nodded in response. He was starting to agree with her words and he could feel his spirits lift a little bit. The shrill of the whistle brought their attention back to game where Lucas realized with a groan that the Knights had scored.

"I won't let them get to me." Lucas vowed as he was allowed back into the game. He watched as Nathan passed the ball in to Skills who dribbled the ball down to center, looking around for an open teammate. Lucas maneuvered around the court, finding the perfect spot and waited for Skills to pass. He caught the ball and pivoted left and right to find any openings. He didn't see any and began dribbling the ball, keeping it away from his opponent. He looked around and saw that all of his teammates were covered and knew that he had to go for a shot. He took a deep breath and tuned everything out, trying to rid his mind of any and all distractions. He heard a voice call out to him distinctly. Still dribbling the ball, he zoned into that voice, trying to make it out.

"Come on Lucas! You can do it! I believe in you!" He'd recognize that voice anywhere. His mind rewound back to the conversation that they had just minutes earlier and he vowed that he would win this. He would turn this game around. Not just for his team, not just for Whitey, not just for him, but also for her, that lone single voice that had stood by him through everything else, no matter what. Yes, he would do this for her; he would gather his strength from her.

Back at the apartment, Brooke is still sitting in front of the TV, moping about her terrible week and her even worse day…

"I can't believe I couldn't cheer at the game. Why was I so stupid? I shouldn't have skipped class. I knew it was a game day. Lucas is going to be even madder at me than he was before. Oh how do I get myself into these situations?" Brooke groaned out loud, throwing her head back on the couch. Her mind wandered back to the conversation she and Haley had on their way to the mall earlier that day.

_Flashback Start!_

_"I know I've said this before, but where did everything go wrong? One minute I'm not letting Lucas get close because I'm too scared of getting hurt again to trust him and the next I'm in bed with Chris Keller making a hypocrite of myself. What happened?" Brook asked wrinkling her nose in absolute bewilderment. Haley shook her head._

_"I really don't know Brooke. I never imagined that I would be here: married, pretty much committing adultery, and on the borderline of getting a divorce all before I even graduate high school." She let out an ironic laugh, "when did every aspect of my happiness begin to rely solely upon the presence and actions of boys in my life?" Brooke gave a shrug._

_"I don't know about you, but like the rest of us it happened at some point. But you know what I've decided?" Haley quirked an eyebrow in question, "I've decided that Luke doesn't even have the right to be mad at me because he did the same thing to me last year with Peyton. Not that it excuses my actions or anything but at least for me it wasn't his best friend!" Haley nodded her agreement._

"_And you know what else, Brooke? Boys are not worth it, they're not. It's just all too much trouble. What we really need to do is stop sitting around, moping all day and letting boys dictate our lives. We need move on and get over it. You should focus on other things, more important things in your life, like… fashion, shopping! From here on out, it should be shopping over men. Clothes over boys." Haley insisted. Brooke slowly began nodding her head._

"_You're right. I do need to move on, get past this. I can do it. And really, clothes are the more important thing in my life right now. And I'm going to start moving on by making a new fashion line. Clothes over boys! Well… Clothes over bros?" Brooke asked questioningly._

"_Clothes over bros." Haley affirmed._

_Flashback End!_

Despite having agreed with Haley earlier, Brooke wasn't so sure she could agree with her now. She had spent the night making some doodles and adapting some of Peyton's drawings, but they did nothing to fill the hole she had in her heart. She could not simply leave her relationship with Lucas as the tangled mess that it was now. She had to fix things. She couldn't allow things to remain the way they were. She wasn't going to let him ignore her either.

She looked at her dresser, knowing what was hidden in its depths. She got up and slowly pulled out the stack of paper out. She had written letters to Lucas all summer. One for nearly every single day that they were apart, but she had not given any of them to him. Not a single one of the 82 letters that she wrote. Despite everything that had happened, she could not bring herself to give him those letters. Not yet anyways.

First she needed to make sure that everything was okay between them. And if the talk went okay, then she would trust him with her heart by giving him those revealing and personal letters that she had written. If not, then she would toss them. Despite her desire to be with him, she did not want to get her heart broken again. After all, he was the only guy who had ever seen her as something more than a dumb cheerleader or an easy lay sort of girl.

She glanced at the clock. The game would be ending just about now and the guys would be getting showers pretty soon. If she left now she could make it just in time to catch Luke before he left. She had to talk to him. She couldn't wait for another day to pass. He had not let her have time to heal and stew in her anger so she was not going to let do so either. She was going to fix things and that was a promise.

Back at the school, the basketball game is down to its last couple of minutes…

"And with less than a minute left in this game we are at the turning point of the century ladies and gentlemen. What started out as a one-sided game has completely turned around and everything is now up in the air. A half that started out 45 - 26 Knights is now tied at 64 - 64! It has been an amazing turn around for the Ravens, especially for co-captain Lucas Scott." Mouth paused to take a breath.

"After a miserable first half where the player could not keep up with his opponent, let alone the ball, it seems now that the opposite has happened where Scott is leaving them in the dust. He has certainly been a key player for this come back, scoring 27 of the 38 points scored by the Ravens this half! That's more than 70% and the last points scored were from a steal made by Antwon "Skills" Taylor who passed to Lucas Scott and he took it all the way successfully tying this game. Amazing! This has become quite a game folks, quite the game. This is what basketball is all about and the crowds are certainly going wild now as it all comes down to this final play to see whether or not this come back will make or break the Ravens. What a night!" Mouth exclaimed in one giant breath.

He still couldn't believe what had happened. He didn't know what Haley had said to Lucas, but it had certainly worked. He had seemed apprehensive when he reentered the game, but after one look at and a cheer from Haley he had transformed into the player that he had been last season, if not even better. It was amazing and one of the best come back he had ever witnessed and he was almost positive that it was all because of Haley.

"And it's the Knights' ball ladies and gentlemen with 50 seconds left on the clock. It is clear they are taking their time, trying to stall as much as they can before shooting. May I remind you that according to the rules they have 10 seconds to take the ball halfway and another 30 seconds to shoot before the shot clock will go off. Stevenson passed to Marquez who dribbles down to half court. He pivots left, then right and passes to Johnson. Johnson dribbles around the key. He passes to Stevenson who looks around for anyone open and finds no one. He maneuvers closer to the net, looks for a clear shot, he doesn't find one."

"He passes to Mitchell. 25 seconds are left in the game, 15 on the shot clock. Mitchell passes to Owens. Owens takes the shot, a miss, but rebounded by Marquez. 15 seconds left. Marquez dribble back, it looks like he's going to go for it and oh! The ball is knocked out of his hands by Lucas Scott! 10 seconds! Uh oh, it's heading out of bounds and it's saved by Antwon "Skills" Taylor who brings it back in to center court. It's a quick pass to Lucas Scott who goes for a three… and there's the buzzer ending the game, will the ball make it? And it's a swish! Nothing but net ladies and gentlemen! The Ravens have done it! They have won their opening game in a fantastic finish, 64 - 67!" Mouth exclaimed, jumping up from his seat.

The crowd on the Ravens side went wild! They had won their opener, despite the depressing first half they had. It was unbelievable! The entire team poured onto the court, followed by the cheerleaders, and then the audience. Mouth watched as the people of Tree Hill celebrated the win.

Even though it was only the first game of the season, it felt like the Ravens had won one of their most important games of the season. He looked around for Lucas and found in the dead center of things, fist raised in the air triumphantly.

He observed Lucas turn, as if someone called his name and then hold his arms out wide as a blur jumped into them. Lucas caught the blur and in a fluid motion he spins her around as she shrieks. It took a second for Mouth to realize the blur had been Haley and then he watched as Lucas set her down and they shared a hug.

They stayed there, hugging in the middle of the celebrating people of Tree Hill, and Mouth could see the connection between them; the link that would always hold them together. The bond that they shared was clear and Mouth had to wonder if either realized the extent of that bond.

If anyone else saw what he was seeing, it would be clear that the two were perfect for each other, but given the circumstances, he knew that each had their hearts set on someone else and were blind to what was there between them, beneath the surface. He wouldn't say anything to the two of them. As long as they were both happy, he would not interfere; even if it hurt him in the end.

Meanwhile Nathan angrily slammed his hand against the wall. Yes the Ravens had won today, but it was not because of him. He had done very little to help the incredible comeback that had been the second half. He didn't think he had ever played this bad in his entire life. He was not happy with himself and he was even angrier that he had warned his brother not to mess the game up and in the end it had been him who had messed up. Granted they hadn't lost, but Nathan had played from bad to worse. He knew that his father was not going to be happy about this.

Before entering the locker room he glanced back at the celebration going on at center court when something caught his eye. Lucas was standing in the middle, one fist up in the air, celebrating the win. He watched as Haley ran up to him and practically tackled him in a hug. As Lucas spun her around and then they just stood there hugging for minutes, Nathan felt the rage and jealousy boil in him. Lucas had told him many times that nothing was going on between him and Haley, but it definitely didn't look that way. If Haley wanted to reconcile with him then she should have been out there looking for him, not hugging Lucas in front of hundreds of people.

Nathan shook his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts. He had already signed the divorce papers, he just had to give them to her to sign and then they would be finished. He was positive that was the only possible step in their relationship. He just didn't they could make this marriage work… but looking at her, standing there all beautiful and smiling, he couldn't help but miss her. May be their marriage couldn't work right now… maybe they just weren't ready for that yet, but was it possible that could start over and try again.

They would be more mature this time and there wouldn't be a marriage weighing on them. They could make it work. He didn't know why he was thinking these thoughts again when he had finally come to a decision a couple of days earlier. Maybe it was seeing her with Lucas or maybe it was that smile on her face. He just couldn't give up yet. He was sick of being a quitter and just this once, he wanted to be a winner.

"Hey, you okay?" a voice asked, interrupting his thoughts. Nathan turned to see Peyton standing next to him, a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah I'm okay… it just feels empty I guess." Peyton gave him a confused look.

"Well at least we won. You guys turned that game around and the last five minutes was fantastic. You should be happy."

"I know… I am, but what did I do for this win? I'm glad we won, the team deserved it, but what have I been doing? I've been spending all our practices giving my brother a hard time, taking my anger out him, and blaming him for everything that's wrong in my life, especially with Haley. I thought I was past that stage, you know? And for a while, we were past that point. Haley brought us together and now it's almost like she's tearing us apart."

Peyton smiled at the irony of that statement. With the way things were going nowadays, she wouldn't be surprised if Haley did become a reason the brothers fought each other, just not exactly in the way that Nathan was thinking. If things kept going where Peyton feared they might go… and with the way both Nathan and Brooke were acting, she was really worried the two of them would push Lucas and Haley straight into each other's arms. Then who would be left to pick up the pieces? Peyton herself. It would tear their group apart.

"Nathan, we talk about this every single time and I hate repeating this over and over again, but you really should rethink this whole divorce thing. You and Haley, you guys are like the golden couple. You shouldn't give up on that. Even if you guys get that divorce, you shouldn't let the relationship end there. Maybe you guys weren't ready for marriage, but that doesn't mean that you two aren't meant for each other. Really Nathan, you guys should start over and for once just take it slow. What? What's so funny?" Peyton asked as Nathan burst into laughter.

"It's funny. I was thinking the exact same things earlier right before you came to talk to me. God it's like you can read my mind or something… then again; you always did know me best." Nathan responded and for a moment there, looking into her eyes, Nathan felt a flicker of something he hadn't felt in a long time… at least not when he was with Peyton. Why was he feeling this way? He shook his, trying to clear his minds of these thoughts, he had to focus on Haley. The moment had passed anyway. It was probably nothing anyways. Nothing at all.

The game was officially over and the crowd had mostly dispersed as the Ravens were in the locker room, showering and getting dressed.

Lucas was still in the locker room, pulling on his jeans and shirt, thinking about the game and everything afterwards. He had tried so hard to not let everything get to him in the first half but it had and his performance had suffered because of it. He had gotten what he deserved from Whitey, but his brothers words kind of hurt. They were reverting back to the way they were before they had become friends. He didn't enjoy fighting with his brother and actually kind of missed him. Hopefully with time their friendship would be okay again.

His thoughts drifted back to his conversations with Haley; the one at half time and the one after the game. She had always been there for him and he could never thank her enough for that. She was and always would be his best friend. Her words to him at the start of the second half had really helped him. If it hadn't been for her, he knew that the Ravens wouldn't have won today and Lucas wouldn't have been able to play the way he had in the second half. He was sure of it.

He knew that he hadn't appreciated her enough and hadn't treated her the way she should have been treated. From here on out he was going to be better. He wasn't ever going to turn his back on her the way he had when he found out about her and Nathan. He was going to be a better friend and he was going to use the time that they spend together trying to make Brooke and Nathan jealous to be the friend that he should have been and will be from here on out. He would show her how thankful he was for supporting him and everything else that she did for him. He promised himself that he would treat her the way she deserved to be treated.

After the game, she had run to him immediately and as he'd twirled her around, Lucas hadn't felt that happy, that at ease, and that carefree since all of this drama had started. It had felt good and to be honest he had enjoyed holding her in his arms… maybe a little bit too much, but he wouldn't think about that. Those kinds of thoughts would just take him where he didn't want to go. But as they stood there, holding each other and with Haley whispering in his ear, telling him that she knew he could do it and saying how proud she was of her… Lucas hadn't wanted anything else at the precise moment. He had been completely happy and utterly satisfied. That thought scared him. What did that even mean?

He shook his head, clearing his mind, as he grabbed his bags and headed to the locker room exit. Maybe if he said it enough he'd believe it. That's what he kept telling himself anyways. He opened the door, walking out into the hallway towards the exit that led to the parking lot. He was not going to think about anything other than friendship when it came to Haley. She didn't need that kind of stress and drama in her life right now. She had more than enough as it was. He was going to focus on being her friend, her best friend and the kind of friend that she needs and deserves. That what he was going to do he decided, as he turned the corner only to crash right into someone.

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay - Brooke?"

**Scene fades out…end of the episode**


End file.
